Mother Earth's School for the
by YamiHeart
Summary: ...Cursed, Unlucky, and Damned. Mathieu and his twin have been accepted into the newest generation of a school where everyone has a curse hanging over their heads, even them. As the secrets come out -some deadly-, will the last chance for normal and safety that the school promises be lost, or will everything end happily ever after? Only time -and a few ghosts- will tell. Multi-ship
1. Chapter 1

_Hello new and old readers! YamiHeart here with a new, sure to be long story! I know my history for finishing stories is… bad, but my goal this summer is to complete this, and complete it I shall! o/_

_I hope my __**Lovino**__ and __**Ian**__ can forgive my absences on the roleplaying circuit as they read this. I was working super hard on it, I swear! TTATT I love you two so much, so please don't think I was ignoring you or anything!_

_Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia, plain and simple._

_Pairings I intend to do: __**Spamano, GerIta, HungaryxAustria**__(don't know the name for that one ^^;)_

_Pairings I might/most likely will do: __**Franada, UsUk**_

_Um… the way I set this story up there will be intimate TeacherxStudent relationships, so if you don't like that sort of thing, this story isn't for you. If you're unsure, this is a rated T fanfic, so nothing too sexual will happen. This really is only rated so high because of language (mostly Lovino's, but a bit of mine as well). _

_**All translations will be at the end of the chapter.**__ I had to use Google Translate for most of it, so if you happen to notice something is completely wrong, please don't be afraid to tell me._

_**Main characters in the description will change accordingly with the chapter. **There are so many main characters that keeping the same two on the description would be silly and (perhaps) misleading.  
_

_I… think that's it! So now I proudly present _Mother Earth's School for the Cursed, Unlucky, and Damned. _Please enjoy!_

* * *

"'_You are all gifted',"_ chirped the black silhouette of a woman projected on a large screen. The screen, hovering over a stage in a theatre much too grand for the ceremony progressing inside of it, was flanked by six young adults, three on the left and three on the right, all sitting in uncomfortable white plastic chairs. To call any of the adults "normal" would be lying and most of them had come to terms with it.

As piano music filled the hall from an unseen performer and his instrument, the silhouette continued. _"I'm sure it's a phrase you've heard a lot during your short, miserable lives. Adults have tried to sugar coat all your situations, but, in the end, they have no idea what they're talking about and have grown tired trying to figure out what to do with you. That is why I have summoned you here from all over the globe."_

Sitting in the front row of the theatre were six teenagers all as strange as the adults on stage. Of these six teenagers about three were paying attention to what was being said.

"_Welcome to Mother Earth's School for the Cursed, Unlucky, and Damned. I am the owner and leader of this school, Mother, and you six make up the third generation of this fine establishment. The men and women by my side were part of the previous generation and have all generously agreed to teach you despite their own problems. That's right: every member on staff here has problems just like you, even me! This is all to help you understand that, despite the curses you've been born with or handed, you aren't alone."_

Out of all the children, one painfully _didn't_ stand out. The boy practically faded into the red upholstered chair he sat in next to his always noticeable twin. After sixteen years of being ignored, the violet-eyed boy had accepted his fate quietly, just as he did everything else. He really couldn't compete with his twin brother's loud yet lovable personality, and he didn't want to, either.

"_While you will be taught by all the teachers, this year each student will be assigned to a single teacher with whom they may talk to privately about grades and, if you feel comfortable enough, more… __private__ issues."_

Another boy at the opposite end of the row looked extremely unhappy, thus creating an interesting visual contrast with his own twin, who was currently sleeping. The brunette twins were as different as the blonds when it came to personality, yet all four of them had something in common. It was something they could never be proud of, the disgruntled boy especially. He didn't see how these strangers could possibly help him or his brother, but, seeing as he had nowhere else to go, he knew he'd be staying at the school for a few months.

"_Before I send you away with your assigned teacher I just want to remind you that this place can be anything you want it to be. If you want a home, this place will be your home. If you need a sanctuary, this place will offer you protection. Within these walls there will be no judgment or pressure to talk about the horrors you've gone through. I opened this school to help people of all ages get the education they were denied because of powers beyond their control while also providing them a safe place. Please, if, when your formal education is finished, you feel the need to stay, do."_

A home? A sanctuary? A school? The Japanese boy wearing the traditional clothing of his country needed none of these things. His… "condition" had given him plenty of time with himself, so he felt a proper "home" was unnecessary and that as long as he was alone he was safe, plus most of his time alone was spent reading books on every subject under the sun making his knowledge quite vast. He only came to the school because the villagers were tired of having him around. Not that he could blame them.

"_Now, when I call your name, please stand. Ludwig Beilshmidt."_

So he had been called first. Rising from his chair the blond German stood ramrod straight and waited for the next command. The other five teens were glad their name hadn't been called first, but Ludwig was not fazed by the situation. It wouldn't be long until everyone learned that nothing changed his ice-cold stare and straight lips and Ludwig couldn't find it in himself to care.

"_Your personal advisor shall be Gilbert Weilshmidt. Take him where you wish, Gil." _

An albino man left his spot on the right side of the stage and hopped down to the students' level, an amazing feat considering he was blind. A small yellow bird flew off Gilbert's shoulder and onto Ludwig's head and from there it tweeted excitedly. Following the bird's sound, Gilbert confidently strode to his assigned student's side. Without a word of apology or warning, he twisted and pulled on Ludwig's face to "see" what it looked like. Ludwig remained neutral, but Gilbert smiled wide.

"Alright! I finally have an awesome little student!" Gilbert apparently decided to completely ignore the fact that his "little student" was easily the same height as him, if not taller. If he had been interrupted, he would have blamed his lack of vision even though reaching up to play with the blond's face should have given him a rough estimate for height. "Let's go Ludwig! Little Awesome, tweet the way!"

On command the bird flapped toward one of two doors leading out of the theatre, chirping the whole way. Gilbert grabbed his student's hand and dragged him along after "Little Awesome", and if Ludwig was bothered or irritated by what had just happened, his face didn't show it.

"_Kiku Honda. You have been paired with Yao Wang."_

Two Asians stood, one from the audience and one from the stage. They met each other half way and left silently, neither getting closer than five feet from the other. They looked odd by themselves (both were wearing long-sleeved clothing despite the end of summer heat outside and the stuffy conditions inside) and their awkward meeting was even stranger than the one between Gilbert and Ludwig.

"_Alfred Jones."_

"Here! Here! I'm here!" Alfred shouted as he sprang up from his seat. All his twin could do was curl up even smaller as the standing teen made a fool of himself by proving to everyone he hadn't been paying attention. Without waiting for further instruction, Alfred darted onto the stage, hopelessly confused but trying to appear confident anyway. How his twin longed for this sort of behavior to _not_ be normal. "What do you need me to do?"

"We need you to _pay attention_, Mr. Jones," replied an annoyed British man as he clamped a firm hand down on Alfred's shoulder, muting the teen's energy almost immediately. All Alfred's twin could do was stare in amazement. No one had ever been able to calm Alfred down. No one. 

A soft chuckle came from the projected silhouette. _"It seems you have Alfred under control, Arthur. I'll leave him to you then. Alfred, this is your assigned teacher, Arthur Kirkland."_

"Yes, yes. Now come along Mr. Jones." Releasing Alfred's shoulder, the peculiar gentleman with eyebrows big enough for five men walked down from the stage and waited until his student caught up. It took Alfred a few seconds, but he did eventually figure out what he was expected to do and followed after Arthur. Arthur, for the first time since he had entered the theatre, appeared pleased. "We have a lot to get done, so we mustn't waste any time."

Arthur began moving again and at a much faster pace than Alfred had been expecting. As the two of them left the room Alfred's twin gave an unnoticed wave goodbye. Alfred's twin may have been used to such treatment, but that didn't mean he wasn't hurt a little each time it happened. Sighing softly, the twin sat up straighter and waited for his name to be called next.

"_Feliciano Vargas."_

That was not his name.

It was the name of the once-sleeping brunette in the very last seat at the opposite end of the row. "Once-sleeping" because, well, once his name was called, Feliciano had been shaken awake violently by his older twin. He almost made the same mistake as Alfred, but once again his brother came to the rescue and explained quietly that all he had to do was stand- a conclusion he had reached based on what everyone else had been doing and not by listening to the actual instructions. Feliciano instantly stood and, for reasons unknown, saluted (with the wrong hand) as though he were in the army.

"_Your teacher is the lovely Miss Elizabeta Hérdérvary."_

The only woman physically on stage got up from her plastic chair and approached Feliciano with a warm smile. "You're so adorable~!" she cooed as she ruffled his auburn locks. Both twins looked momentarily uncomfortable, but Feliciano was the only one who tried to cover the awkwardness with a goofy, childlike smile. His twin simply huffed and looked away.

"Grazie Signora," Feliciano replied in his native tongue. "You also happen to be very beautiful~!"

The compliment caused Elizabeta to blush lightly and giggle in glee. "Oh, we are going to have so much fun Feliciano, I can just tell!" And with that, another student was whisked away from the theatre, leaving two very worried boys. Neither of them could even look at the stage, both afraid that they'd suddenly see only one teacher remaining. Both their lives consisted of proof time and time again that they were easily discarded. Both wanted to finally be wanted. Both had been hoping this place would be different.

"_Lovino Vargas."_

Lovino shot right up, a glimmer of happiness flashing through his eyes before it was quickly buried by a mask of disdain. He finally found the nerve to look at the remaining teachers and, when he did, his heart dropped. The remaining men looked like scraps from the bottom of a barrel compared to Feliciano's gem! Once again he had foolishly let his hopes get much too high. He'd always be second best and it was about damn time he came to terms with it. So… why was it so hard to accept?

"_Your teacher is Antonio Carriedo."_

After taking a second look, maybe Lovino shouldn't have insulted so quickly. He could have just as easily been assigned to the bearded creeper on stage, but instead he got the semi-partially- kind of- not exactly not attractive Spaniard. Yep, life could have been much crueler. At least, that's what Lovino believed then.

Lovino was snapped out of his thoughts when he felt two very strong arms squeeze him to the point where breathing became difficult. "Hola Lovi~! I hope you don't mind me calling you that because I think it really fits you more than your full name because 'Lovi' is short and cute like you and-"

"I get it! I get it!" Lovino gasped. "Now let go of me!" He tried to push Antonio off of him, but the man's grip was _tight. _Thankfully, Antonio instantly obeyed his student's request and released his hold. This led to Lovino falling to the ground and making the first meeting between student and teacher a complete disaster.

"_Antonio…"_

"Sorry! Sorry!" Antonio winced and knelt by his fallen student's side only to be smacked away by a now steaming Lovino.

"What the hell you bastard? Are you trying to kill me?" He screeched, not giving a single damn if he was in a school or not. Lovino grabbed the front of his teacher's shirt and pulled their faces close so that Antonio couldn't escape his glare. Antonio just laughed.

"Of course not! I was just so excited to have you that I couldn't control myself!" Lovino found it difficult to be mad after hearing that. "But seriously, are you badly injured?"

Lovino really, _really_ wanted to stay mad or at least a little upset, but the concern in Antonio's eyes he was forced to see because of how close they were put out the fire that had been growing within him. Backing away, the Italian looked off to the side and grumbled, "N… No. Nothing life-threatening."

"So you are hurt!"

"Wha-?"

"Oh, díos! Don't worry Lovi; I'll fix you!" Lovino, completely lost at that point, was lifted into Antonio's arms and carried out of the theatre before he could argue against it.

Then there was one.

Did he dare glance up?

Would they even call his name?

"_And, finally, Mathieu Williams."_

Was… that supposed to be him? The first name was right, but it didn't make sense that his last name wasn't the same as… oh. He should have known it wouldn't be the same as Alfred's when he was told their father had filled out their paperwork to come here. It was probably better if they weren't thought of as brothers, anyway. Not being brothers wouldn't make everything magically better, but it would put less pressure on Mathieu to interact with the other students. Perhaps this school would let him finally fade away into the walls…

"_Mathieu? Are you going to stand?"_

"Ah, I…I'm s-sorry." Mathieu stood, but still couldn't look up at the stage. His shaking fingers felt too interesting to look away from at that moment.

"_Mathieu? I could have sworn there were six children… come now Mathieu, don't be shy. Just stand."_

Mathieu wanted to cry. Sixteen or not, he really did. He never imagined that he'd be forgotten so quickly. Was it better this way? Was it better to be shown no kindness from the very start?

"Mére, do not be so cruel to our new student." Mathieu hadn't even heard the man approach, but when he lifted his head there he was, the last teacher. The man was a well-groomed Frenchman with tan dress pants, a lilac button up shirt with the sleeves rolled, and his blond hair tied up with a ribbon. Anyone would have gawked at him, but Mathieu was more interested in something on the man's right shoulder, something that wouldn't capture anyone else's attention because they wouldn't see it no matter how hard they looked. "He's right here."

"…_Ah, so he is. My apologies Mathieu. This is your teacher Francois Bonnefoy."_

"You must be terrified after watching mon ami tackle your last classmate." Francois' chuckle came from deep in his throat and forced Mathieu's attention away from what he had been staring at. "But I promise that I will not drop you to the unforgiving ground."

"Huh? Oh… oh, no. I-I'm fine. I didn't think you'd do that and… and Monsieur Carriedo-"

An odd, excited noise erupted from Francois. "Ohhh~! You are fluent in Français, Mathieu? I thought your name had a French ring to it!"

"Well…" Mathieu was gently led out of the theatre and into the front entryway of the school where perhaps the most morbid statue in history sat surrounded by plush red carpeting and walls white as snow. The statue was of a crumbling headstone with the name purposefully scratched off and a single flower growing over where the body would usually be buried. It gave Mathieu the chills when it was the first thing he saw after walking into the building and it freaked him out now. Sensing his "master's" distress, the ghost of a polar bear cub rubbed his transparent form against Mathieu's leg. The comfort made Mathieu feel a tad better. "I was taught the language by a friend long ago, though I believe I might have caught a glimpse of her recently."

"That'll give you and your brother quite an advantage in my French class next semester. This semester I was coaxed into teaching reading and writing as long as I-"

"A-Alfred didn't," his voice got even softer as he realized how rude he had been by interrupting. "My brother didn't learn French… with… me… You could say they were… private lessons."

"From a ghost?" Francois asked bluntly. Mathieu, completely shocked, stared at his teacher with wide, violet eyes. Francois simply shrugged and smiled. "You didn't think Mére pushed us into this blindly, did you? We had to be informed as much as possible to keep our student and ourselves safe. Some might lie and act surprised when their student comes clean," Francois took out a cigarette and lighter from his pocket and began to puff away. "But I think it's much easier to come clean right away. The fewer secrets the better, oui?"

Mathieu tried to cough out the toxic smoke entering his lungs and brought his gaze to its favorite place: the ground. Not only was the ground people free, it was also (usually, and not including the polar bear) ghost free. Since the day he and Alfred were born the "curse of twins" nipped at their heels. Mathieu, the younger of the twins, had been announced dead upon birth. A miracle occurred when his heart started beating and it was a miracle everyone believed his mother had paid for with her life. It was a terrible weight Mathieu was constantly reminded of with every encounter of the undead; and, despite what everyone assumed, he never once contacted his deceased mother (his father was convinced he was lying about that).

After minutes went by and Mathieu said nothing, Francois went ahead and ended the silence. "But I don't know what's wrong with the other students. I only know you can talk to the dead and are a bit hard to see. I wasn't even told what's wrong with your twin."

"Nothing's wrong with him…" Mathieu mumbled. He was the problem child. He always had been and his father made sure he never forgot. "Alfred's here because I'm here…"

Had Mathieu's eyes not been focused on the ground they would have seen the smirk on Francois' face. "I'll take your word for it."

Mathieu's face scrunched in thought as he repeated his teacher's earlier statements in his head. "Um… Monsieur Bonnefoy?"

"Oui?"

"If… fewer secrets are better and Mother said everyone here has a problem… um… wouldn't it be fair of you to share why you're-"

"Non."

"N… Non?"

"Oui."

"But-!"

"You're a minor and I'm an adult so I don't have to tell you." Francois took an extra-long drag of his cigarette and released the smoke away from his student's face. By now Mathieu was looking and didn't miss the troubled expression that crossed the older man's face. Mathieu knew there was no way what Francois was doing was fair, but he didn't feel like pushing the subject much further. Besides, if it was truly necessary to know, he'd ask the female ghost who had taught him French before and was hanging by Francois' side now, otherwise known as Jeanne.

As they walked up the white-marble stairs, it finally occurred to Mathieu that he didn't know where Francois was taking him. "Um… Monsieur? Where are we going…?"

"Oh." Francois physically stopped as though he had to reorient himself to make sure he was going the right way. "Well, I was thinking of giving you a tour of the grounds. It would be nice to know what's where, oui?"

Mathieu nodded and followed Francois through the oddly colored halls. While the first floor was carpeted with red and painted white, the second floor was carpeted white and painted red. The second floor held all the classrooms (Francois' classroom of course the alleged best), a gym (sans carpet, of course), and a "dining hall" (Francois insisted "cafeteria" was too plain of a word to describe the striking room). Every room was built to hold dozens, but Mathieu had only seen about a dozen people in the whole building.

"Why is everything here so… huge? There aren't that many of us… were the previous generations bigger?"

"My generation did have a few more people in it, but we were still dwarfed by the rooms. I… believe Mére hopes one day hundreds will stay here and cease living in fear of the hand they've been dealt." Francois shrugged again. "Hundreds one day, fourteen now."

"Fourteen? Who… else…?" Mathieu's question answered itself when Francois brought him to a room adjacent to the dining hall. In this room with floor-to-ceiling windows sat an aristocratic-looking man playing the piano. The man's fingers breezed across the keys and produced a beautiful tune. There was no doubt in Mathieu's mind that this was the same player he had heard while in the theatre and all the other rooms of the building. "Wow… it's-"

"Tragic."

"T-Tragic?" Did the song have some sort of dark meaning behind it Mathieu was unaware of or…?

"You reminded me of what Mére said earlier, remember? 'Every member on staff here has problems.' Roderich is no exception." Francois leaned against the door frame and folded his arms over his chest. "Just take a closer look at his fingers and you'll see what I mean."

Curious to see what Francois was talking about, Mathieu adjusted his glasses and squinted his eyes. He gasped. "I-Is that…?"

"Oui, it's blood."

When one looked just a bit closer they could see the blood dripping from Roderich's fingertips and splattering the piano with red. Even the white carpet underneath the musician had a red halo encompassing the piano bench. One would expect the playing to cause Roderich extreme pain, but his face was completely calm.

"M-Monsieur Bonnefoy… wh-why…?"

"That's his curse Mathieu: he can't stop playing the piano. He can't eat, he can't sleep, and he can't react to the world around him. All he does is play day in and day out and he's been doing it for three years."

"H-How is he still living?" Mathieu reached down and the bear leaned into his touch. The fur, like a safety blanket, helped him find comfort every time he was upset or frazzled.

"That," The Frenchman peeled himself off the wooden frame and put out his cigarette with the bottom of his shoe. "Is another curse for another time."

Most people would have followed up with the question, "How can living be a curse?" but the question never popped into Mathieu's head. He knew living could be hell. A silent hell, but a hell nonetheless.

Dropping another subject, the teen followed Francois up to the third floor. The white and red melted away to a dark blue that covered everything. It was a strange and sudden color change that Mathieu didn't even try to figure out. Mother had to be crazy if she gave cursed strangers a place to stay, so why should the color choices of her facility make sense?

On every blue door there was a golden plate with someone's name on it and so Mathieu found where everyone would be sleeping. The student's rooms were first and, because they were in alphabetical order, Mathieu's door was last and quite a ways away from Alfred's room. It would be interesting sleeping so far apart. He just hoped neither of them got any nightmares while they stayed at the school. If Alfred was scared enough, he made a lot of noise and continued to make a lot of noise until someone calmed him down.

Walking down to his room, Mathieu caught glimpses of his fellow classmates already getting situated. Some were alone (most notably the Japanese student), but most were still with their teachers. Alfred was still with Arthur and was talking so intently with him about something he didn't notice his twin walk by. There had been times where Alfred had been all alone and Mathieu yelled to get his attention and was still ignored, so, honestly, Mathieu wasn't expecting much. That wasn't to say Alfred was a bad person or even brother. He was simply… dense. Very, _very_ dense.

Francois gave Mathieu the go ahead to open the door to his room and found the same sea of blue had leaked into the place he would be staying. Even the blankets and sheets on the bed were shades of indigo and cobalt. The only break Mathieu received was from his red suitcase, a color he was now regretting but couldn't fix now. Red, white, and blue… red, white, and blue… while the outside of the school had a nice Victorian-era look to it, the inside was a headache waiting to happen. Hell, Mathieu already felt one coming on.

When he stepped into the room, a deafening silence fell on him and made his forming headache become all the more concrete. Roderich's piano music had suddenly vanished and Mathieu became genuinely concerned about the man's condition until Francois explained.

"The rooms up here were modified not long ago so that Roderich's constant playing didn't keep anyone up. I think the sound in this place is the _last_ thing that needs to be fixed, but I won't complain to Mére about her horrible taste in color when I owe her so much."

Mathieu laughed. It was a soft, adorable noise, but it still shocked Francois. He never would have expected hearing a quiet kid like Mathieu laugh on the first day. "I was just thinking the same thing Monsieur. The color changes here are giving me a headache they're so bad!"

"Finally! Someone who agrees with me!" Mathieu's bright face brought a warm smile to Francois' own. It was a lovely expression he'd like to see more often from the teen. "Maybe together we can convince her to change things for the better."

"Maybe…" Still laughing, Mathieu ran a hand over his bed and sat on it. Head tilted toward the ceiling, he offered offhandedly, "I haven't seen too many ghosts, so, if we needed to, we could argue that not even the undead can handle these colors."

"But… you have seen some? Here?"

"Of course. There hasn't been a single place I've been to where I didn't encounter a spirit." Mathieu's countenance aged way beyond his years and it pained Francois' heart to see. "And I'm not even counting my polar bear friend when I'm talking about what I've seen here."

"Polar bear?" Francois pulled up the sickeningly cerulean chair from the desk Mathieu had been given for school work and sat in it, curious.

"Oui, I… I don't know his real name, since he can't speak, o-obviously, but he's just the ghost of a polar bear cub who's been following me around for a few years now. He's never tried to hurt me, so I don't mind having him around." As though he knew he was being talked about, the cub snuggled onto Mathieu's lap. Mathieu, unable to resist, scratched the bear's ear. "If you could see how cute he is, you'd hardly think he was dead."

"I'm sure." Silence returned, but it wasn't as awkward as it had been before. Francois ended it once more. "Mathieu has… has a ghost or spirit or anything of the supernatural realm tried to hurt you?"

The teen didn't even hesitate. "More times than I can count, Monsieur. Lots of spirits are lost and confused as to why no one can hear them. When someone finally answers, they often freak out and threaten me for answers. Other times the ghost is of an already evil person and those ones are the least fun to deal with. My polar bear scares most of them away now, but I was in the hospital a lot when I was little because of them." All the happiness Mathieu had shown earlier drained from his face and was replaced by pain. "My… my father always asked what had happened and never believed me when I said I was attacked by spiteful spirits. He said if I could talk to the dead I could talk to my mother and that I was lying to not get in trouble. After I turned seven he stopped taking me to the hospital after the attacks and locked me in my room with a first aid kit. Thankfully, not long after that I came across my polar bear and didn't get hurt as much, which convinced my father further that I had been lying."

"I'll never be loved."

Mathieu's gaze was instantly found Francois. "Wh-What?"

Francois rested his head in his hand and looked out the small square window across the room. "That's my curse. I messed up when I was younger and now I can't be loved."

"That's…" Mathieu struggled to find the right words. "A bit… vague…"

"What do you mean?"

"W-Well, how can you control how people will feel? Does something happen to people who start to love you? Do they… do they d-die?"

"Not… as far as I know. I haven't let anyone get close to me for a long time."

"Then, and please don't take this the wrong way Monsieur, wouldn't it seem that this curse is controlling _you_, not anyone else? I don't know that much about curses, but I imagine it must be hard to change how everyone feels about a certain person unless that person starts acting differently and pushes everyone away."

Silence. It seemed the lack of noise would be common between the teacher and student.

"I've… I've said too much, haven't I?" Mathieu pulled his bear closer to his chest, horribly embarrassed. "I-I'm sorry. I'm sure your curse is-"

"Non… non, it's…" Francois smiled, which put Mathieu at some sort of ease. "You aren't the first to tell me something like that."

"Um… why did you share your curse with me now when you wouldn't earlier, Monsieur? Were you afraid of other people hearing?"

Francois shook his head and stood. "You shared something very personal that wasn't on the report I was given and I thought it would only be fair to tell you something you didn't know about me that was just as personal."

"If you think that way around everyone, I wouldn't be surprised to hear that amour finds you again."

The teen's words were so honest, so pure, Francois couldn't argue with them, even in his mind. "Merci Mathieu." He turned to leave, but then remembered something very important. "I forgot! Some basic things you need to know: classes start tomorrow, you must be in your room after nine pm, all lights automatically turn off at midnight, and the tower you can see from your window," He pointed to the highest point of the whole school. "Don't go there unless told specifically by me or Mére. Understood?"

"What's-?"

"That's where Mére stays. It's out of respect that we don't bother her."

Mathieu nodded. All of that made sense to him. "Got it. Are… you leaving now, Monsieur?"

"Oui. I have to get ready for tomorrow." He hadn't even looked at the book he was going to be teaching…

"Ahh… Merci Monsieur, f-for showing me around today. See you in class."

"Indeed. Be careful Mathieu. Adieu." With that, Francois left his student and went to his own room. Having lived at the school for many years, he had been able to fix his room so that it wasn't so horrid. The blues were softer and splashes of green and purple kept his senses from getting overloaded.

Just as Francois flopped himself down on his plush bed, his cell phone rang. Groaning, He took the device out of his pocket and answered it. There was only one person that could possibly be calling him. "Bonjour Mére."

"_He told you the same thing I did, didn't he?"_

Francois chuckled and shook his head. "Oui, he did. I have to wonder if you two are plotting against me."

"_Even if we were plotting something, it would be to help you, not hurt."_

"Hmm… If all the students are like him, this generation will be very interesting."

"_I disagree. It's because all the students are so different that it'll be exciting to watch things develop."_

"And it's when you say things like that that I begin to question what your intentions are in keeping us all here."

"_Progress Francois, progress." _

* * *

_Translations (in order of appearance):_

_Grazie Signora (Italian)- Thank you Miss._

_Hola (Spanish)- Hello_

_Díos (Spanish)- God_

_Mére (French)- Mother_

_Mon ami (French)- My friend_

_Monsieur (French)- Mister_

_Français (French)- French_

_Oui (French)- Yes_

_Non (French)- No_

_Amour (French)- Love_

_Merci (French)- Thank you_

_Adieu (French)- Goodbye _

_(If I missed any, please let me know!)_

_Notes for this chapter:_

_-Why red, white, and blue? Eh, they're the top three most common colors on country flags, so decided to use them. ^^ _

_What other curses do the students and staff hold in their hearts? Come back next chapter and find out!_

_All comments, favorites, subscribes, and all that jazz are loved (and give me motivation to keep writing)~! _


	2. Chapter 2

_Hello again!_

_I'm sure it's obvious my whole "finish this fanfic by the end of summer" plan fell flat on its face, but that doesn't mean I'm giving up on it yet! :D Thanks for staying with me all of you who did! It means a whole lot to me!_

_**Concerning the possibility of Franada and/or UsUk:**__ Okay, I have no idea if they'll happen or not. The story gets out of my hands sometimes, so we'll just have to see together if either pairing occurs. If you're only reading this fanfic for those pairings, sorry to disappoint, but you really shouldn't be reading this anyway. ^^;_

_**Main characters this chapter: America and Canada **__(last chapter it was France and Canada. I meant to write that, but I didn't, so I'll just put it here instead). _

_Bonus note: Want to hear a song that I feel captures this fanfic pretty well? Listen to __**Stranger In This World **__from the musical __**Taboo**__. The musical itself doesn't really fit, but this song by itself does and sometimes it makes me tear up a little. I'd suggest listening to it to set up the mood for everything. ^w^_

_Alright, I'll stop bothering you now and let you read the long awaited second chapter. =w= _

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Reflecting back on his previous observations about the ghosts in the building, Mathieu, now sitting next to his zoned-out twin in Mr. Wang's math class, found that he had been wrong. Very, very wrong. He wasn't exactly sure if it was because he had been too nervous yesterday to notice or if all the spirits scattered due to so many new people coming and going, but, no matter the reason, saying the décor had scared the undead away was incorrect and something Mathieu would have to tell Monsieur Bonnefoy about later. That is, if he could make it through the day without going insane.

Sixteen years of living wasn't enough to prepare anyone for the hordes of screaming ghosts eerily congregating around the other students and the teacher. The crowd around the Vargas twins was easily the biggest and loudest, their bone-chilling cries mingling with one another and making it impossible to pick out one distinct plead, even if Mathieu did speak Italian. It was harder to tell whether other ghosts were haunting a particular person or the location itself since they were coming and going so rapidly. His polar bear's presence seemed to thankfully be keeping most of the wanderers away from Mathieu and his brother, but he couldn't find an explanation for why the Asian student –Kiku was it? - was also left untouched. Honestly, he wasn't sure if remaining untouched made the young Asian more or less unnerving than the rest of the class.

With the ghosts blocking his view of most of the things he needed to see and drowning out what he wanted to hear, Mathieu felt helpless and lonelier than usual. He doubted anyone else was witnessing what he was, and there was no way he could ask the spirits to go away. Oh no, that'd be suicide with so many restless spirits around. Mathieu wasn't even letting his eyes drift to them, lest they figure out he could indeed see them. Not even his polar bear stood a chance if they all decided to swarm around him and tug and pull at his body, their icy touches brushing against his own soul and-

"Yo, Matty?" Mathieu gasped and went rigid when he felt a hand on his arm. Oh God, oh God, oh God. Did he give himself away on accident? Was this the end?

"Helloooooooooo? Dude, are you alright?" As whatever was touching him began to shake him violently, Mathieu whipped his head to the side and saw with wide, still-frightened eyes that it was none other than his brother Alfred trying to get his attention. Sighing in relief, the younger's body went slack and a small smile crossed his lips.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, sorry Al. I just… you know…" Alfred's blank expression showed he didn't know. Sometimes Mathieu wondered how much his brother knew about what he saw every day. He had told Alfred about it a long time ago while he recovered in the hospital after one of the first attacks, but he doubted his brother remembered when the Alfred's expression was always so…so… (Dare he say it?) dense. And if his twin didn't know, Mathieu wouldn't bring him down with the information. Besides, white lies never hurt. "Math is hard, a-and I-"

Alfred's loud and obnoxious laughter cut Mathieu's explanation short. "I hear ya bro!" Alfred smacked his brother's back much harder than necessary, leaving the teen breathless for a few moments. "I stopped paying attention halfway through, too! We'll have to ask another student for help later, that's all! But right now we have to go to Arty's class!"

"…Ar…ty…?"

"Yeah! He's my advisor!" Alfred started packing his supplies into his blue canvas backpack with white stars on it (as if any more obnoxious blue and white was needed within the building), a huge smile on his face. For Alfred, a smile like that was very unusual while he was still in school.

Mathieu tried to remember Alfred's teacher's full name as he also put his things away, which wasn't too difficult since the man had found a way to stop his brother from talking at the opening ceremonies. "You mean Monsieur Kirkland? Is… he okay with you calling him 'Arty'?"

"Nope."

"Al!"

"Whaaaaaaaaaat?" Alfred groaned.

"He's your teacher and your elder! You should treat him with respect!" The younger and easily more mature twin huffed as he stood with his broken brown backpack in hand.

Alfred followed suit soon after, a mischievous grin on his face. "Ah, but it's fun Matty! It really ticks him off! You should try it!"

"Um…thanks, but no thanks."

It sounded like Alfred was trying to get himself expelled, which wouldn't end well for either of the twins. If Alfred did get kicked out, Mathieu could foresee two possibilities for his own outcome: either his father would take him out as well and blame him for what happened or he'd make sure Mathieu stayed at the school alone.

"Booooo! You're so lame Matty!"

Mathieu chose not to reply to his twin's latest comment, concentrating more on watching the other students leave and making sure he didn't run into them or their ghosts. This was, as one might expect, exceedingly difficult when you also want to make sure the ghosts aren't aware you're aware they're there. If Mathieu was six instead of sixteen he'd probably cling to Alfred's arm, but he was a bit old for that so instead grabbed his own arm and squeezed it tightly.

'_You can do this Mathieu!'_ He mentally encouraged himself. _'If you make it through today you can talk to Monsieur Bonnefoy later, a-and maybe he'll know what to do! Plus the next class might not be as infested as the first two! You never know! Think positive Mathieu!'_

The blond twins walked down to the next class together, Alfred standing tall and Mathieu nervously slouched over, and the moment the younger of the two stepped into Mr. Kirkland's classroom he knew he had once again spoken (or, perhaps it would be more accurate to say in this case, _thought_) too soon.

The previous classes had been uncomfortable, as any room filled to the brim with the undead would be, but this room was a completely different experience. For Mathieu, entering the room was akin to submerging himself in water; his body felt heavy, his eyesight was getting fuzzy, and his breath refused to come without choking him. He lost his balance and fell against the doorframe and slowly lifted his head, trying to find the source of the weight practically crushing him. A particularly dark shadow stood at the front of the class, the black aura surrounding it cloaking all hints of humanity it may have had.

Alfred, who had already taken a step in before Mathieu, moved toward the figure, his smile still wide. Primal panic welled up within Mathieu and he weakly reached out, his hand latching onto the back of his twin's shirt and stopping him. Alfred looked back, the confusion on his face clear.

"Al…" Mathieu's voice was softer than usual, the words nearly lost in the six inches of air separating them. "Don't go."

"Matty…?" Alfred's confusion morphed into concern as he turned back to face his brother. Mathieu's gaze, however, was now focused on the _thing_ approaching them with an arm-like appendage reached out toward them.

Mathieu bolted, his backpack dropped and forgotten at the doorway. He had to get away from the creature. He had to get away from _Alfred_. Surely the thing knew Mathieu saw it (he was fairly certain they had made eye contact even though he couldn't see its eyes) and if he ran the thing might leave Alfred alone. Nothing else processed in his mind except _"RUN". _

By the time Mathieu ran off, everyone in the classroom was watching the event unfold with varying amounts of interest. Alfred launched into big-brother mode and was taking the first step toward going after his twin when the ominous arm that had terrified Mathieu caught him.

"Don't you dare Mr. Jones." As was quickly becoming the norm whenever Alfred was around, Mr. Kirkland's voice sounded annoyed and exasperated. "We don't need a third of the class running out before it's even begun."

Alfred met his teacher face to face with a fire in his eyes no one could put out, even Mr. Kirkland, who always seemed to make him feel more lethargic than usual. "But I have to go find Matty! You probably scared him because of that weird grim reaper robe you're wearing!"

The Brit's eyes narrowed as Alfred struggled with less energy than one would expect after hearing him yell at a teacher. The teen got nowhere, his teacher's robed hand keeping him within the confines of the classroom that was admittedly eerie to anyone. None of them were crushed by the atmosphere like Mathieu had been, but the skeleton in the corner and the dusty bookshelves filled with glass bottles were fairly off-putting. If Alfred hadn't been so focused on his brother he would have been surprised by the room's décor, for the place had looked like an average classroom the previous day. His teacher had also looked normal, if not a little fancy. The writing on the chalkboard offered little explanation, seeing as none of the other students had ever heard of a Science 101 classroom and teacher being decorated in such a macabre manner.

Finally it dawned on Alfred how useless his struggling was and he stopped, but only so he could turn his head and give Mr. Kirkland a fierce cross between a pout and a glare. Unfazed, Mr. Kirkland turned Alfred completely around, pushed him further into the classroom, and closed the door with enough force to cause a bang, Mathieu's backpack laying forgotten on the other side.

"I understand your concern," Arthur said, silencing the protests his student was all too ready to vocalize. "But my class started two minutes ago, meaning you've wasted two minutes of everyone's time with this."

"You-!"

Arthur held up his hand. "I am willing to cut another minute out of my class to call your brother's adviser and let him know what's happened, but the total three- probably now four minutes will be paid by you later Mr. Jones."

Sighing, Alfred agreed reluctantly. Whether he ran out of the classroom or stayed he was going to get in trouble, and he wasn't even sure what he could do for Mathieu. Despite how dense he appeared to (and could) be, the older twin knew quite a bit about his brother's problem with spirits. When he was younger he had tried to help fight the things off, but he was greatly hindered by the fact that he couldn't see the dead like his brother could. His "help" would end up causing more problems for Mathieu, and it was with a heavy heart that Alfred decided it would be best if he stayed on the sidelines assisting his little brother in ways he wouldn't notice like giving him a charm bracelet meant to ward of spirits. He had no idea if the small things he did helped, but trying made the clawing sense of uselessness less painful.

As Alfred sat in a desk neither close to nor far from the four other students, Mr. Kirkland reached into his cloak and pulled out his cell phone. His message to Mr. Bonnefoy was short and to the point, and those closer to the front of the class could hear a French-accented voice shout through the device before their blond teacher cut the call off without so much as a goodbye. The phone was stashed and finally class could begin.

"Hello students." The greeting was given as Mr. Kirkland straightened out his back to give himself an air of authority. "Now that that is out of the way I'd like to introduce myself. My name is Arthur B. Kirkland, and it is with great enthusiasm that I am allowed to tell you that instead of teaching you science like Mother originally planned," He walked over to the chalkboard, erasing what was there and replacing it with "_Intro to Alchemy"._ He smiled at the words proudly and turned back to his class. "This year I will be teaching you the basics of a scientifically and mathematically based magic: Alchemy. It's not my strongest field, but this should be-"

"You're a wizard?!" Alfred shouted the question that everyone was thinking but no one dared to interrupt Mr. Kirkland to ask.

Mr. Kirkland shot the American a look that could kill, but now it was Alfred's turn to be unfazed. The question may have sounded like a joke, but there was a serious look in the teen's eyes that forced Mr. Kirkland to answer without snapping at him.

"Yes, I have the ability to practice many forms of magic, my primary study being the dark arts, which I will _never_ teach to any of you here. Far too dangerous." A nearly inaudible sigh escaped his lips as he folded his arms over his chest. Of course _his_ student had to be the one constantly interrupting _his_ class. "As I was explaining before I got interrupted, alchemy is relatively safe as long as you _listen_ to me and the rules you are given and don't try anything stupid."

Like a proper student should, Ludwig, sitting in the first seat in the front row, raised his hand. Appreciating the respect, Mr. Kirkland allowed him to speak. "You mentioned that Mother originally planned on having us learn science. Is there any particular reason she changed her mind?"

"Well, Mother and I talked about it for a while, and, since one of the major reasons I'm here is to provide magical assistance whenever possible, we decided that it would be useful if this year's students, you all, could learn some basics about magic so that you might be able to understand your individual problems better." Arthur walked to his desk, positioned at the front and to the left of the room from the student's perspective, and sat on the corner of it to get off his feet.

"No matter what happens here during your time at this school," He continued. "You should know everything is done in hopes that it will benefit you in the end. It is part of human nature to struggle with life, but the things thrown at the people inhabiting this school are something else. It's impossible to expect someone who's been cursed to live the same 'normal' life as a person who only hears about curses in stories told at bedtime. This place and its goals are unlike anything I've seen during my lifetime, so I beg for you not to take its kindness for granted."

Silence filled the air as Mr. Kirkland allowed time for his words to be absorbed by his students. To his pleasant surprise not even Alfred made a peep, which allowed the class to continue moving forward. Tattered textbooks were handed to each student, two being given to Alfred so that he could give one to Mathieu later. Opening the leather-clad front cover revealed the words, "Humankind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return. To obtain, something of equal value must be lost." scrawled in golden ink. The words stirred up something inside of Alfred, but, unable to figure out why, he pushed the feeling aside and did his best to actually listen to what was being taught this time.

It wasn't until the five students were dismissed that Alfred saw his brother sitting in the lunchroom with who he could only assume to be Mr. Bonnefoy beside him. The older man's head lifted when he heard the other students enter while Mathieu only curled up more, horribly embarrassed by his prior actions. Alfred went straight to the table his brother was seated at, doing his best to smile wide and offer his special variety of seemingly-oblivious comfort.

"Hey Matty! How are ya doin'? You ran out super-fast and I wanted to follow ya but stupid old Arty wouldn't let me!"

Mathieu lifted his head only after Mr. Bonnefoy softly shook his shoulder, but even then he couldn't meet his brother's eyes. "Y-Yeah, I'm fine. I…I just…" He fidgeted nervously, a clear sign that he was lying and going to continue to do so. "Felt a bit sick a-and didn't want to make a mess in the classroom. I'm s-sorry if you ended up getting in trouble because of me."

"_Stop lying to me Matty." _Alfred mentally begged. _"Stop taking on all the blame. None of this is your fault and I'd think no less of you if you told me you saw a spirit in the classroom that scared you. Who wouldn't be scared by something like that? Can't you trust me Matty?"_

"Don't worry about it!" He interjected enthusiastically instead of voicing what was really on his mind. "Arty didn't make too big of a deal out of it because he was so excited to teach us about alchemy."

"A-Alchemy?"

"Excusez-moi." Mr. Bonnefoy said as he stood. Mathieu looked up at him, the fear from before briefly returning in his eyes. The Frenchman smiled sadly down at him and stroked the teen's hair to try and calm him back down. "I apologize, but I do have some business I must attend to. I'm afraid my class is the last of the day, but would you like to at least try getting through Gilbert's and Antonio's classes Mathieu? They're good friends of mine and I believe you should be alright. If something does go wrong you're welcome to come find me."

Alfred watched the exchange in awe. It was odd seeing anyone pay much attention to Mathieu besides him, and it stirred up a few different emotions, some not as pure as he would have liked. Alfred couldn't help but be wary of a man he didn't know, but if Mr. Bonnefoy was being kind because he actually cared then that made the older brother happy.

He watched as Mathieu slowly nodded and dropped his head. Both teacher and student seemed equally reluctant about separating, but reluctance didn't mean Mr. Bonnefoy's business was going to disappear so he still had to leave. This left the twins alone sitting only a foot away from each other though the distance felt much greater.

"So-"

"Y-You should go get something to eat Al. I'm sure you're hungry."

"Uh…" Time to smile again. Something was eating at Mathieu and there was no need to make him feel worse knowing it was so obvious and worried Alfred. "Damn! You caught me Matty! You always know bro!" His laugh echoed through the room, bringing more attention to the twins that Mathieu didn't want. "Would you like me to come with me and get something too?"

"O-Oh, no, I'm fine, th-thank you. I'm still not feeling the best."

Mathieu wasn't looking at him as Alfred's smile grew strained. Did his brother want to be alone or just away from the older twin? "Ah, I'll get you something just in case! Even if you don't eat it, I sure will!"

Mathieu's reply was drowned out by more of Alfred's loud laughter as he walked away toward the buffet set up for the students. When he passed the open door leading to the hallway he heard loud bang coming from Mr. Kirkland's room. He stopped at the doorway, curiosity starting to get the better of him. Mr. Kirkland had admitted he was a magic user, so was he performing a spell as the students ate?

Looking back he saw no one reacted to the noise besides him. Unable to stop himself, Alfred left the lunch hall once he was sure Mathieu was distracted with his thoughts and went to inspect his teacher's classroom.

He poked his head into the entryway only to quickly retract it when he saw the cause of the noise. Inside the classroom Mr. Bonnefoy had Mr. Kirkland pressed against the wall by the collar of his shirt. What the hell?!

"Bastard!" The Frenchman barked. "How dare you do such a thing! Do you even know what he's been through?! He didn't need this on the first day!"

"It was necessary." Arthur replied, an irritating calmness in his voice. "I had to test a theory that turned out to be correct. I'm sorry there ended up being a consequence I hadn't anticipated, but now I can help both of them."

"How about asking _moi_ before trying something like that?! He was shaking Arthur! Shaking and terrified and believing he had seen death itself wandering around your classroom!"

"Listen to me you frog!" Shuffling sounded from the room, but Alfred didn't dare to see what was causing it. He wouldn't get caught when he was so intent on hearing what these men had to say! "There is a problem much greater involving your student that I doubt he or his brother know about!"

"Oh? And do you plan on sharing that information with me, or are you going to keep it locked away in that thick skull of yours?"

A sigh and the sound of drawers opening. "July, sixteen years ago. Twin boys are born to Mr. and Mrs. Jones, but there are complications during the birth. The older twin is strong and healthy, but the younger dies. The heartbroken mother holds her dead child close and is reported to chant in an unknown language before drawing her last breath. The once dead child opens its eyes, tears falling even though not a sound is made. Mrs. Jones is buried a week later, her two sons left to be raised by a single father."

"I already knew this Arthur. Why are you telling me again?"

Paper shuffled.

"May, thirteen years ago. Three-year-old Mathieu Jones is admitted to the Intensive Care Unit at St. Josef's hospital. His body is covered in animal-like scratches uncommon for the area. The child claims he was attacked by a shadow figure, and the claim is quickly dismissed as a child's way of coping with whatever actually happened. Nurses note that Mathieu appears to be much happier when his twin, Alfred, is around, but also gets severely weaker, his heartbeat often slowing down to dangerous speeds and his injuries cause him extreme pain despite no matter how much medicine they safely administer. For the good of the patient his twin is prohibited from the hospital room and Mathieu recovers within a week.

"August, thirteen years ago. Both Mathieu and Alfred are admitted to the hospital, their injuries similar in severity. The boys share a room and Alfred recovers after three days. Mathieu's recovery takes three times as long and dramatic improvements in his health take place only after his brother is released.

"January, twelve years ago. Mathieu-"

"Get to the point Arthur!" Francois snapped. Alfred then heard paper get smacked onto a solid surface. A desk perhaps? He still couldn't see what was going on, but when he heard paper shuffle again he just assumed Mr. Kirkland picked up whatever Mr. Bonnefoy threw down.

"I should have known telling _you_ the details would be a waste of breath." The drawer was opened and closed again. "All you need to know is that it would be best for your student to keep him away from mine."

"Arthur!" Alfred was pretty sure the next bang was caused by Mr. Bonnefoy slamming his hands down on the desk the papers had been put on previously. "I have the right to know what's going on! Stop being the stubborn ass you are for once in your life and tell me what's going on with Mathieu and his brother!"

"He's being absorbed."

"Wh…What? Who are you talking about?!"

"Your _student_, Francois. Alfred has a very powerful spiritual energy within him, one that needs constant replenishing. Based on the many medical reports I've read and what I've seen, Alfred is unaware of what he's doing and is continuously taking the energy of others, similar to how a flower will get its energy from the sun. Even left unregulated, the condition isn't usually a problem because all living things naturally cut off the energy coming off them so all of it doesn't get taken away. However, Alfred and Mathieu, being twins, have the same spiritual wavelength and can't shut down from each other. It is because of this that I believe Mathieu died sixteen years ago."

"You… You're saying…"

"That coming into the world required a lot of energy and Alfred accidentally took so much from his brother that he killed him? Yes, that is exactly what I'm saying."

Alfred slowly slid down the wall, his eyes wide. No… no, no, no, no! That couldn't be true! Alfred would never do something like that to his brother! He loved Mathieu! Killing him, absorbing his energy?! All of that was insane!

"The only reason Mathieu's alive today," Mr. Kirkland continued. "Is because Mrs. Jones, a fairly prominent woman in the magic world, gave up her life in exchange for his."

"Mon Dieu, that… that's horrible. How are you planning on telling them?"

"Are you mad? I'm not telling them."

"Not even Alfred?! But this is all because of him and it won't get better until he knows what he's doing to Mathieu!"

"Tell Mathieu if you like, but I refuse to tell Alfred. Imagine, if you will, having the knowledge that you killed your brother and, indirectly, your mother weighing down on you for the rest of your life because of a power out of your control. He'd never be able to show off that… that dumb smile anymore." The Brit's voice had gotten soft in a failed attempt to hide the sadness leaking through his words.

Alfred felt the need to laugh bitterly. What was it about him that made people think he couldn't handle the truth? He had more of a right than anyone to know that nightmarish creatures plagued Mathieu during the day and that his attempts to help were killing him! Alfred didn't know what to think anymore other than he was fucking tired of all the bullshit he had to put up with.

Nobody trusted him with the truth?

_Fine._

He'd return the favor and keep the truth from them as well. He wouldn't let on all the information he knew. He wouldn't let his smiles or obnoxious laughter falter. He'd convince them all he was an oblivious idiot while he did all the research he could to fix _his _problems by _himself_.

"One day you'll see." He muttered under his breath. "You'll all see what I'm truly capable of. Until that day," Alfred put on his signature smile. "I'll be dumb ol' Al."

Alfred stood back up and walked back to the lunchroom, unable to stand listening to the "private" conversation of his teachers any longer. There wasn't much time to eat left, but he got food anyway and placed a full tray between him and his brother. The sound of the tray clanking against the table snapped Mathieu out of his thoughts and caused him to look up at his brother.

"Where have you been Al? You left," Mathieu glanced at the clock and scrunched his face in confusion. "Twenty minutes ago. Is everything alright?"

Alfred sat down and dug into the food he had gotten, hoping that eating would provide him with energy and keep him from taking too much away from Mathieu. "One-hundred-percent cool bro!" He exclaimed, little bits of food landing on the table. "There were just so many options that I couldn't choose!"

Mathieu rolled his eyes, but a small smile formed on his face as he grabbed a piece of cornbread. "You're something else Alfred F. Jones."

The older of the two feigned a look of hurt. "But I'm still your brother, right Matty?"

"Always Al."

Alfred's happy smile returned while his heart twisted in pain. He'd deserve to be Mathieu's older brother one day…

* * *

_Translations:_

_Monsieur (French)- Mr._

_Mon Dieu (French)- My God_

_I… don't remember too many foreign words in this chapter, so if I miss any that you just can't figure out the meaning of, please don't be afraid to let me know!_

_Notes about this chapter:_

_-Okay, yes, my rule of alchemy is from FMA. I looked up the real rules and they were much longer and more complicated than necessary for this fanfic, so I went with simple stuff I knew pretty well. If any of my readers practice alchemy and get horribly offended, um… sorry. _

_-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAANGST. So much Alfred AAAAAAAAAAAAANGST. I love it. I love it quite a lot._

_Whelp, that's the end of this chapter~ I think we'll be focusing on characters other than the Jones twins next time, so please come back! I don't plan on taking months to write this time! ;w;_

_Favs, comments, follows, and shares are loved~ Oh! And I uploaded a few quick sketches based on this fanfic to my dA account, which is linked on my profile here. You can check them out if you like~ ^^ _


	3. Chapter 3

_Wow… so… almost four months. ^^; This chapter is extra-long (I believe about 7, 909 words not including these author notes), so maybe that makes up for it a little?_

…_Maybe?_

_**Main Characters this chapter: China and Japan**_

_**See the new cover image? Want to see a bigger version of it? The link to my deviantart page is on my profile, and the large version has been uploaded there! :D **_

_What are you still reading this for? You've got over 7,000 words to read! Go! Go! _

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It may have only been the second class on the second day of school, but it was already obvious which teacher was going to have the toughest time educating the six students of the newest generation to attend Mother Earth's. Or, at least, it was obvious to Kiku Honda as he watched the teacher he had been assigned grow increasingly irritated each time someone came forward and admitted to not completing the homework they had been assigned the previous day. To be fair, it wasn't Mr. Wang's fault that two-thirds of his class didn't like math. It was the subject that was the problem, not the teacher.

"I assigned you six problems! _Six!_" Mr. Wang's tone of voice made the situation sound much more serious than anyone else in the room seemed to be taking it. This made Kiku wonder if the older Asian was upset by the fact that the work hadn't been completed or that he hadn't been listened to. "And they were _easy_! Did _any_ of you finish them?!"

Kiku raised his hand. To him, the problems had indeed been easy. All six took less than ten minutes to complete and, to his expected disappointment, none of the other assignments he had been given over the course of the day had been any more challenging. He had no intention of mingling with the others, so, though he had been unable to sleep because of the difference in time zones between his home and the school, he sat in his room, alone, all night, without doing a single mentally-engaging activity.

It had been a long night.

Now, however, Kiku had to admit that observing his classmates from his spot two rows behind them all was… _interesting_. Much more interesting than his sleepless night. He had made a number of observations the day before and was working on forming them into judgments. As he saw it, judging was a part of human nature and not something he should be ashamed of doing. Besides, the men and women of his village had had no qualms about judging him while he lived in their midst.

The student farthest from him sitting in the first seat of the front row (just as he had been yesterday) was a boy Kiku liked to refer to as _Iwao _–or "stone man". He felt that the name fit the blond who never moved unless directed to and never expressed anything besides indifference on his face. This far away blond was the only other student with his hand raised.

In the middle of the second row sat the first set of twins with their odd curls of hair bobbing up and down. Yesterday they had sat in the third row of every class as far from the stone-cold blond as possible, and the sudden jump in position was a change decided upon by the bubblier of the two twins. The grumpier twin had verbalized his displeasure at the beginning of the first class, but he eventually caved after five minutes of his brother whining and pleading for the new seats to be given a chance.

Neither had their hands raised.

Situated between the Italian twins and Kiku in the third row of desks sat the final two students, whom Kiku assumed to be twins despite their different last names. It was only because of the previous day's most notable event that he knew more about them than anyone else, but even then his information was limited to perceiving that the blond on his right was loud and fairly rude and the blond on his left was a quiet little mystery. That was more than he knew about most people he had ever come across and already he was getting an uneasy feeling of closeness to the twins. He'd have to be careful to keep his distance in the future lest he find out (and remember) something like their first names.

Their hands, like the previous set of twins', were absent from the air.

"Put your hands down." Sighing, the Chinese male rubbed his forehead with his palm and mumbled something under his breath, presumably in his native tongue. Once it appeared that he had calmed himself to a reasonable point, Mr. Wang took his hand away and was able to look at his six students confidently. "Fine. If you choose not to do your homework alone, you will do it in groups. Beilshmidt, Vargas one and two, you three will work together. Jones, Williams, and Honda, you three will-"

"Wait!" Kiku wasn't sure about the rest of the class, but he knew it was no surprise to him that it was Jones who interrupted the teacher. The rude blond shot up from his desk, his hands waving wildly in the air as though shouting hadn't been an adequate way of getting the attention of the six other people in the room, and Mr. Wang looked ready to strangle him.

The second class of the year was not going well for Mr. Wang at all.

"What?" Mr. Wang hissed. Kiku concluded that the American student either didn't care or was extremely dense, since his lack of reaction to the silent threat the teacher's tone held was the same expression he had had yesterday while he fought with Mr. Kirkland.

"Uh…" Jones looked around the room frantically, his blue eyes landing on everything, including Kiku, for the briefest of moments. A silent decision was reached by the American, and in the blink of an eye he had somehow managed to skid over to the Italian twins and pull the grumpy one out of his seat.

"What the fuck are you-?!"

"I wanna work with this guy!"

Due to the angle Jones had positioned himself and his captive, Kiku was able to simultaneously observe the blond's blinding smile and the look of horrified confusion on the Italian's face.

"Ch…Che cosa?!" The Japanese student wasn't fluent in Italian, but he didn't need to be to know the American had succeeded in ticking off another member of the school. Honestly, Kiku was beginning to wonder if the American's whole goal was to make enemies with whoever he met. "Get off of me you bastard! Neither of us got the fucking homework done!"

The class watched without moving to help as the brunet attempted to push his captor away. His reward was a tighter embrace. Mr. Wang finally made a motion that suggested he was going to separate the boys, but he stopped halfway through, a grimace flashing across his face, and pulled himself back to his post at the front of the classroom.

"Explain yourself Jones before I send you to your advisor!"

"I want to get to know the other kids better, teach! Is it so wrong to want to be friends with guys I'll be spending a whole year with, if not more?"

Kiku's immediate mental response was, _"Yes."_ He hadn't come to the school to make friends, especially with touchy loud mouths like the student who was currently making another scene in front of the class. He came to get away from his village, to give his parents a break from the scornful looks outsiders would give them. He came to the school to give his parents a chance at some sort of normalcy that having him around would not allow. If doing so required him to get close and personal with other human beings, he'd simply leave the school and live alone forever in the forest that surrounded the building.

…The idea was a bit tantalizing, actually. He wouldn't have to worry about attempting to converse with others or hurting them or… yeah, it'd be paradise. His little paradise.

The persisting silence tugged Kiku out of his thoughts and back to the situation at hand. No one said anything, and all their facial expressions and body language betrayed why. The German, as always, appeared to be neither interested nor bored and was allowing the events to unfold without too much interference. The usually happier Italian had his back to Kiku, but the tensing of his muscles revealed enough. The grumpy Italian was too frustrated to speak, though he opened his mouth on multiple occasions to try, and Mr. Wang appeared to be having trouble deciding whether he should stand his ground or angrily cave in and let the American do whatever the hell he pleased so that the class could continue.

Said American, to Kiku's surprise, had an edge of desperation in his determined look that Kiku could only detect due to years of practice observing others from his bedroom window. Against his better judgment, Kiku began to grow curious. Where did that desperation stem from? What were his true motives? _What was he hiding that Kiku couldn't figure out from his safe distance away?_

The curiosity the Japanese student tried to repress was on the verge of driving him mad, so he tore his eyes away from that tantalizing desperation and instead focused the American's brother. The brother's head was turned in a way that allowed Kiku to view the profile of his face, and was there a lot to see. Everyone, including the American, was too absorbed by the unfolding events to see the hurt that shined in the shy boy's eyes and the despair that parted his lips to form a small, open frown. Again, Kiku didn't understand. What painted such… evoking emotions across the brother's face?

Then, with a start, Kiku remembered a time when he was sure he had made the same face. It was the day, twelve years ago, that his parents closed the door to his room and locked it tight for the last time. When the hollow sound of the lock closing echoed in the nearly empty room, his five-year-old face fell and made the same expression he saw now, no doubt about it.

_It was the face of someone who was terrified to be alone._

"Williams." Mr. Wang's sharp tone shattered the silence and Kiku continued to watch as the fear on Williams' face was quickly hidden. "You'll be partners with Honda."

Oh no. Not partners. Not with someone he had just gotten far too close to. Not with someone he had suddenly understood. It would be dangerous for both of them!

But, unlike the obnoxious American, Kiku did not have the nerve to make a scene and object to the new arrangement, and, since he highly doubted his quiet partner would, he was stuck.

"Beilshmidt, younger Vargas, you two will be a partner group, and _you,_" The teacher narrowed his eyes at the student who insisted on turning his class upside-down. "_You _will get your wish and work with the older Vargas." He turned his back to the six students and commanded, "Begin."

The bubbly Italian bounced to the stoic blond, the grumpy Italian shoved the American off and shouted at him in his native tongue, and neither Kiku nor his partner moved from their spots.

A minute ticked by.

Bubbly Italian chatted on and on about what appeared to be nothing, grumpy Italian begrudgingly sat down to start working, and Kiku's partner shifted in his seat. Kiku tensed as his partner gathered his things up and shuffled to Kiku's row. The boy was nervously chewing his bottom lip until he set down his incomplete homework on the desk next to Kiku. That was when he did his best to smile and disperse a quickly-setting awkwardness by mumbling, "H-Hello."

Kiku said nothing and looked down at his completed assignment.

The shy student went back to chewing his lip.

"S-So," The soft blond sat down and played with the sleeves of his red hoodie. "Um, I was h-hoping you might be able to m-maybe explain the lesson to me? I… just…" He struggled for words, clearly trying to find the right lie to hide something. Kiku dully wondered if his partner was aware of how terrible he was at this. "Th-The whole thing went completely over m-my head and I…"

He looked at Kiku, expecting an answer, but got none. "C-Could I at l-least see what you did? I won't copy your answers, I-I just want to…" He started to get closer to Kiku to see what the Japanese student had done, and it wasn't a move Kiku had been expecting. Kiku jolted away from his partner, causing his chair to screech back and the fearful look from before to return to his partner's face. Guilt tugged at Kiku's heart, but there was nothing he could do. He couldn't allow his partner to get close to him. The risk was too high.

The blond returned to his spot at the desk next to Kiku's and murmured, "S-Sorry. I'll s-stop bothering you n-now." As he hunched over his homework, he picked up his pencil and stared at the problems as though they were written in a foreign language.

Kiku released a silent breath and relaxed his shoulders. It was a good thing his partner wasn't as pushy as his brother. The Japanese student tried to distract himself with watching the other students work, but he'd snap his attention back to his partner every time the blond erased all his work. The boy was clearly struggling despite trying his hardest and that ugly guilt found its way to Kiku's heart again.

There had to be a way to help… Williams (Kiku only remembered the name because he could see it on the top of his partner's paper) without getting too close. There had to be, or else the amount of eraser shaving piling up around Williams would drive Kiku insane.

"Williams-san." Kiku figured it was best to be simple and polite with the suffixes of his home, especially since he had no idea if his partner understood Japanese culture at all. Williams lifted his head, clearly surprised. "Let me-"

"Honda." Kiku felt a firm hand clamp down on his shoulder and instantly he stiffened, but it was too late. When had Mr. Wang gotten behind him? "Why are you-"

Kiku found himself laying in complete darkness.

Not again.

Why so soon?

He had tried to be so careful, but now…

It was going to be just like when the neighbor's child tapped him on the back, or when his aunt had tried to hold his hand, or… when his mother had kissed his cheek.

Every time he'd find himself in this place devoid of light, and only the sickening sound of sliced flesh and screams would bring him back to the real world. Once he came back to his senses, he'd see his hands slathered in the blood of whoever touched him. It was awful. It made reality feel like a nightmare, but no matter how hard he pinched himself he could never escape it.

He felt his body grow heavier along with a desire to fall asleep. Some might have been scared by such changes, but, despite knowing the outcome of allowing the darkness to take him, Kiku felt no fear. The temptation of sleep felt as though it was being offered by a caring mother who was inviting her child to rest in her arms, and it was a feeling Kiku could not reject. He closed his eyes and waited for the sound that would snap him back.

The noise a plate makes when it drops to the ground and shatters echoed through the darkness.

Kiku furrowed his brow. Why was he hearing the sound of breaking instead of bleeding?

When he opened his eyes, the early-morning sunlight nearly blinded him. He rubbed his forehead with his fingers and gasped when he felt nothing on them. The relief he should have felt was replaced with confusion when from his hand fell pieces of porcelain.

Slowly, Kiku turned his head and saw the hand that had touched his shoulder lying on the ground along with the rest of his teacher's arm.

There was no blood, no skin, no muscle, and no bone. There was simply the empty, cracked, and broken shell of an arm from the elbow down.

Kiku continued moving his head and found that Mr. Wang showed no signs of pain, only exasperation.

Mr. Wang was having a very, _very_ bad second class of the year.

"Class is… dismissed."

* * *

"So much trouble…" Mr. Kirkland muttered loud enough for his classroom's other two inhabitants to hear. He placed the many pieces of Mr. Wang's arm on the desk along with the ripped sleeve of the Chinese man's shirt that had been used to transport the broken limb. "I _told_ you to be careful. Now I've had to switch my class period with Weilshmidt's to fix you."

"Save it, Kirkland." Mr. Wang spat back from his seat next to his arm on the desk. "I didn't break on _purpose_. Every time I crack I have to trust _you_ to fix me because _you're_ the only magic-user on staff, but that doesn't make me hate you any less!"

"Would it kill you to like me? You came to this school in pieces last year! You'd probably be a bouncing head if it wasn't for me!"

The Chinese man scoffed and looked away. "I owe you nothing. I would have found other ways to fix myself if we hadn't met. Your magic's just another temporary patch. You are like the glue that dries on your hand and makes it all sticky and gross."

"_Excuse me?_ How about I-!"

Kiku kept his head bowed as his teachers argued back and forth. He was too immersed in his own thoughts to listen to what they were saying, but as time ticked by he grew more and more nervous. Why wasn't Mr. Wang fixed already? Why had Mr. Wang "broken" in the first place? Was the break too severe to fix? Would the Chinese man be stuck with only his left arm for the rest of his life?!

"K-Kirkland-sensei?" Any insult coming from either of the teachers was silenced in an instant. Mr. Kirkland and Mr. Wang both looked at the Japanese student, but Kiku never raised his head while he spoke. "Are… you not able to fix Wang-sensei?"

"Oh…" Mr. Kirkland recomposed himself like a true gentleman and approached Kiku's question with no hints of the aggravation that had coated his voice only moments before. "No need to worry. This is nothing compared to some of his past injuries."

Kiku did not respond right away, instead choosing to take his time and pick his words carefully. "How long has Wang-sensei been this way?"

The teachers exchanged quick glances.

"…Kirkland, cover your ears and work on putting my arm back on." Mr. Wang commanded.

The Brit knitted his eyebrows together in confusion. "Why do I have to cover my ears? I already know why you-"

"Just do it!"

Mr. Kirkland rolled his eyes. "Fine, fine…" Quiet mumbling and a snap of his fingers conjured up earmuffs over the magician's ears that he hoped would satisfy his demanding patient. Mr. Wang gave the new accessory a quick once-over and nodded in approval, which allowed Mr. Kirkland to start the preparations for his next, and much more complicated, spell.

The Chinese man's golden-brown eyes starred right through his student as he waited for something to happen. When the action he awaited did not occur, Mr. Wang commanded it to, for any patience he had that day was eaten up by Mr. Kirkland's student. "Lift your head Honda. I will not continue talking to your hair."

Kiku, horribly embarrassed by his rudeness towards an elder, quickly lifted his head and apologized.

The apology was waved off by Mr. Wang. "It is fine. I just wanted to speak to your face. Now, as for your question…" He sighed. There was no point in him even trying to figure out how long he had been this way. "I do not remember how long I've been like this. A number of events have made it all but impossible for me to figure it out. Some people have tried to date me," He shot a glare towards a distracted Mr. Kirkland. "But I would not let them because I either did not trust them or simply did not want to find out I am actually a very old man."

Kiku couldn't help himself. He wanted, no, needed to know how something like his teacher was possible. "What happened to you?"

"You really want to know?" Kiku closed his eyes and nodded. He did, and Mr. Wang could tell. Mr. Wang really hadn't been expecting any differently after his arm fell off, but it was still a hassle conjuring memories when he was pretty sure he didn't even have a brain to store them in. "Alright, but do not expect much from me. I may not remember how long ago this started, but I do know I've been walking around for a long time and so my memories are a bit fuzzy.

"I know I was originally born like anyone else with skin and blood in China at some point in time. My family was very poor and decided to sell my younger sister to a brothel-type place to bring in some much-needed money. My sister was very scared, so I decided that we would switch places and that she could play as our family's son instead. I do not know if my parents ever figured out what we did, but, if they did, it was too late to do anything by that time.

"It did not take my owners very long to figure out that I was not a woman, but they decided that I was pretty enough to still be useful. They dressed me up every night and employed me to entertain the guests before they got the real 'entertainment'. It was a simple job that only required knowing how to water down drinks and getting just close enough to make the clients want more." He paused to think about how strange it was that he had to remember the details of _that_ awful job above all things and then shook that thought aside. He had to stay focused on the story, or else he'd never remember what he was saying and his story would get lost to time.

"Anyway, there was one noble who took a particular interest in me. I cannot tell you much about him, but I know he was one of those people whose unattractive outsides reflected his ugly insides, but, truly, that is the way you could describe most of the customers there. He often tried to get me to go to bed with him, and I successfully kept him off of me until the night a mix-up occurred and we let him get far too drunk. He wouldn't take 'no' for an answer once alcohol fueled his actions and he forced me into a bedroom when no one was looking.

"His face when he discovered I was a man was priceless.

"Back then, in my country, there was nothing wrong with sexual relations with the same sex, but he had been so convinced that I was a woman that it really jarred him. He started drunkenly shouting that I had led him on all along, and he was kicked out before he could do anything to me. The next night he returned, much more sober, and he decided he wouldn't mind if I was male if I would be only his. I of course told him no and got him kicked out again. As he got tossed out for a second time, he promised that I would regret not choosing him, a promise I thought nothing of until a week later.

"I honestly don't even remember it happening. It was as sudden as going to sleep normal and waking up like this. My owners were horrified and gladly sold me to the noble. I went through many years of hell with him, forced to do whatever he pleased. When he finally passed away, his heir locked me away in a chest, both ashamed of his father's attraction to what he believed only to be a doll and scared that I would bring bad luck to the family if I were allowed to stay out in the open.

"I was in the dark for a long time. No matter how loud I shouted on the rare occasions the chest was moved, no one tried to release me. I grew scared of myself and how I could survive without food, drink, sleep, sunlight, and fresh air. The time I spent in that silent, cramped space was almost worse than the time I spent with my second owner. Almost.

"One day, after the chest had been moved a lot and new noises had been entering my ears constantly for what may have been weeks, my prison was broken open by a man who was neither Chinese nor spoke the language. I later found out he was a German, but after all this time, his name, like many other things, has slipped from my mind. It wasn't long after he found me that he began to make things called 'China dolls' and became very wealthy. He believed I was an object of good fortune and treated me with care, and for a while I lived very well. Decades passed, and when war threatened the country, my fifth owner took me to America, where I was taught many subjects such as English by my sixth owner. My seventh died before any could claim me, and I decided to take on the world alone. The world is not very kind to a sheltered man who is made of porcelain, and this school's offering to take me in was a life saver. I've stayed here ever since and… I guess that is it. Was that a good answer?"

Kiku stood silent. Shock took away any words he could think to form. He had read quite a few history books in his time alone, and, based on his teacher's account, Mr. Wang could easily have been a few millennia old. His age was nothing compared to the revelation that Mr. Wang wasn't even human. Now that Kiku knew, it seemed so obvious. The flawless skin, the glass-like eyes, all of it made him think of…well… a china doll.

"I'm ready." Mr. Kirkland announced. He took off his earmuffs, not caring to wait for Mr. Wang's approval, and pulled out a stick of charcoal. "May I reattach your arm now?"

"Why are you even asking?! Just attach it already!" The way Mr. Wang shouted almost made Kiku doubt the Chinese man had recounted a tragic past only moments before. This brought up the inevitable mental debate of whether a man turned doll still retained any humanity.

Kiku had seen his teacher express emotions, but that was not the same thing as feeling them. It was unnerving to think that Mr. Wang may have been reduced to nothing more than a machine based "thoughts" and "feelings" on what it observed humans doing. How could he even be sure that the "memories" he had been told were real?

"You know, I could easily let you fall to pieces, so I'd suggest at least _trying_ not to yell at me every time we speak." Mr. Kirkland carefully drew symbols on the still-attached portion of Mr. Wang's right arm with the charcoal stick held. He drew the same symbols on the desk beneath the broken porcelain pieces before placing the charcoal down and pressing his hands together as though he were praying.

Kiku was completely distracted by the thoughts his teacher's story had generated when a turquoise glow emanated from the table and Mr. Wang's arm. He was even more fascinated when streams of the same colored light, like animated threads, helped the porcelain dance up off the table and back into place on the unimpressed Chinese man. It was an image straight out of a fantasy novel, yet it was happening right in front of Kiku's eyes.

Two days at Mother Earth's and Kiku's view on the world was already being pushed to its limits.

"There." The British teacher dropped his hands and the light burned out instantly. "Try moving it and tell me if it feels right."

Mr. Wang bent his elbow and flexed his fingers a few times and narrowed his eyes at the man who had fixed him. "It feels right."

"Then why are you glaring at me?"

"Because it means I will not have to thank you."

The glare and reasoning for it were very odd reactions and they began to cement the forming idea in Kiku's mind that his (possibly) millennium-old teacher had become emotionally stunted when he had been transformed. This was, of course, still only a fledgling idea and the Japanese student was expecting that it would evolve with time.

"Heaven forbid you lower yourself to such levels of courtesy." Smoothing out the sleeves of his black robe with quick flicks of his fingers, the blond straightened himself out and walked between the teacher and student and headed towards the door. "I'll be back in a minute. Try not to break anything while I'm gone now that you have two arms again."

Mr. Wang stuck out his tongue at Mr. Kirkland until he was sure the magic user was out of hearing range. That's when he muttered a quiet, "Thank you Arthur", his face resembling that of a child who had been forced to use his manners and wasn't happy about it. Four years now seemed like a much more likely age than four-thousand to Kiku, and the immature behavior of his teacher conjured up a feeling him that he was used to experiencing when reading an amusing book. It was the sensation of laughter, and feeling its tickle when he was in the presence of an actual person (porcelain or not) was so strange to the Japanese teen that feared he was getting sick.

The teacher, noticing his student's discomfort, tried to think of something he could do to put Kiku at ease. "Oh!" He snapped his fingers together, a motion that resulted in a sound closer to fork being scraped on a plate than an actual snap. "You like to read, right Honda?"

"Um…yes." Kiku wasn't sure what was going on, but he figured it was an innocent enough question to answer truthfully. "I enjoy it very much."

Mr. Wang looked at the doorway to make sure the other teacher wasn't on his way back and, once he was sure the coast was clear, he leaned forward and whispered, "I am not supposed to tell you this, but…" His eyes darted around to make absolutely sure Mr. Kirkland hadn't returned. "There's a library in this school. The entrance is on the first floor on the wall opposite to the doors of the auditorium. It is the only door on that wall, so you cannot miss it. Mother told us not to tell our students about it, but what harm can a library do?"

* * *

Kiku didn't know what harm a library could lead to, and that was why he was so hesitant to open the door he stood in front of. All of his classes were done and there had been no homework, so he really only had two options: stay in his room, bored, all night and hope he eventually fell asleep, or do a little exploring and see what was in the secret library.

Kiku wasn't generally known for having an adventurous side, but he was also not known for enjoying hours of boredom.

There was always the chance that the door to the library was locked. In fact, it would be very reasonable to lock the entrance to a place you didn't want students entering. There wasn't much Kiku could do if it was locked except say that he tried and move on with his life.

A few more minutes of debate thoroughly convinced Kiku that the white door would be locked, and, somehow put at ease by that conclusion, he found the courage to place his hand on the brass doorknob a turn it.

The door was not locked.

A quick tug was all it took to pull the door open, an outcome that caught Kiku off guard and almost resulted in him getting smacked in the face by the edge of the door. He flinched out of the way just in time to avoid the painful blow, but the surprise knocked the wind out of Kiku and left him panting for breath.

He turned his head from side to side, checking to see if anyone saw him and what he was doing. The first floor was completely deserted, and that fact only put him more on edge. What if there was a monster in the library and he screamed for help but no one heard because they were all in their sound-proof rooms?

Oh, that was not the kind of thought he wanted running through his head, especially when he saw that the door opened to a staircase leading _down_.

He had read many stories about people going downstairs alone. Few of them ended happily.

Swallowing his nerve, along with all thoughts on how _bad of an idea _this was, he took his first step down. His foot landed on a wooden stair that shrieked at him to get off, which he did immediately. The faint laughter of children hit his ears, and he looked around the place frantically for signs of _anyone_, but still saw no one.

"Get a hold of yourself, Kiku." He said out loud to encourage himself. "Now you are just making up noises to scare yourself."

He inhaled deeply and ran down the stairs, each step creaking under his weight as though trying to convince him that listening to a porcelain man had been a very bad idea. Candles lit his entire decent, erasing a bit of his fear. Any fear that had been shaken off quickly returned when, as soon as he reached the bottom step, the door up top slammed shut.

Kiku's heart was beating at a million miles a minute. Was he going to die here? Was this the end?

Pressing his back against a cold, stone wall, Kiku worked on catching his breath and rationale. He was _not_ going to die. He was going to be just fine. He was in a school, after all. A very crazy school with dangerous people in it (including himself), but a school nonetheless and schools weren't supposed to lead to chambers of death, no matter who attended them.

He looked to his right and saw a faded red door with patches of its rotted wood poking through the paint. Its handle was orange with rust and the whole thing was surrounded by a burnt doorframe.

Oh God, he _was_ going to die.

Allowing himself to become a victim of his fate, Kiku opened the door and waited for death to take him. Instead, he was nearly blinded by a sudden wave of light. He had to use his arm to cover his eyes, but once his eyes had adjusted, he was able to look at what the red door revealed.

He gaped.

Inside was a huge library that easily spread across two stories, and every available opening had a book in it. The numberless shelves weren't enough to contain the number of books, and many of them, perhaps even hundreds, were left stacked up on the floor. The place was made warm by a light source Kiku couldn't identify and a color scheme that didn't consist of red, white, and blue only.

The most attention-grabbing feature a silver staircase leading to the second floor of books, and it looked like a waterfall reflecting in the moonlight when paired with the dark green carpets that spanned the area. But that wasn't the last thing that tugged at his eyes. There was so much more that Kiku had a hard time taking it all in!

"How does a door like this lead to a place like… _this?" _He breathed, a small smile pushing up his lips.

The library was beautiful.

He strolled through the seemingly endless rows of books, amazed at all the categories the shelves held. Adventure, fantasy, sci-fi, romance…

He was so lost in the comfort books brought him that he almost couldn't believe it when he turned a corner and (finally) found someone else. He rubbed his eyes, sure it was a trick, but sure enough the person was still there! And… even from behind, they looked very familiar…

As if sensing the added presence, the person turned and appeared to be just as shocked as Kiku felt. It turned out the person who had interrupted his blissful isolation was his partner from math class, Williams.

Hadn't Mr. Wang said the students weren't supposed to know about the library…?

Slowly, cautiously, the blond walked toward Kiku, a book awkwardly pressed to his chest. "H-Hello again…" He greeted with a shy smile when he stopped about three feet away from Kiku. "I wasn't expecting anyone to be down here with me, since Monsieur Bonnefoy had told me we weren't even supposed to know about this place…" He laughed awkwardly as he rubbed the back of his neck.

Kiku was honestly surprised that his math partner was talking to him after what had happened in the morning. No one had talked to him after he returned to classes, and he had assumed it was because they were too scared. Was it possible it was because he hadn't given them the opportunity to speak with them that they didn't?

…No, it made much more sense that they chose to stay away.

But… then what was up with Williams, the person who had been closest when he broke Mr. Wang?

"I too am surprised." If Williams was going to try talking, Kiku decided he'd give it a shot as well. Besides, Kiku had given up containing his curiosity at this point and he wanted to know why the blond hadn't run away. "My teacher told me the same thing."

"Really?" Williams' laughter became less awkward and more mirthful, but it also became quieter. "That's kind of funny."

"I suppose it is, yes." His eyes landed on the book Williams was holding and he was intrigued when he saw Japanese writing on the outside. "If I may ask, what are you reading?"

"Huh?" The bespectacled boy held the book out like he had forgotten he had been looking through it before Kiku approached. "O-Oh! I… I wasn't really _reading_ it, because it's in Japanese, but… um… well…" He chewed on his lower lip, a nervous habit Kiku was finding to be common for him, and shuffled his feet. "Can… can you… Can you see _them_?"

"Them?"

"Um, y-yeah… you know…" Williams was the most uncomfortable Kiku had seen him all day. "…Spirits?"

The last word was so quiet, Kiku almost hadn't heard it at all. Understanding what had been asked of him, however, ended up only being more confusing.

"Why do you ask?"

Williams flinched and dropped his head. "I-I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked. Of course you don't. Who would? Those aren't even real." The awkward laughter returned. "I'll just leave you-"

"No." Williams' nervous babble stopped instantly. "I want to know why you asked. Now lift your head and tell me why without apologizing." Kiku hadn't mean to sound so… mean, but he truly wanted to know why he was asked a question like that. A question like that was not asked without a reason.

Blond locks gradually fell back and revealed the red face of Mathieu Williams. "B…Because…" He was still speaking quietly, so Kiku took it upon himself to step closer. "I…_I_ can see them…a-and today… when Monsieur Wang touched you… a… um… w-well…" He fumbled with the book in his hands and opened to a page with a drawing of a woman with no face and long, black hair that swirled into clawed hands as the end. "I-I saw you fall asleep and _this_ come out of you. I-It was all very quick, a-and when I asked my brother about it later he said he didn't see anything come out of you, s-so I assumed it was a spirit a-and that you…might… see… _them_… too…"

Kiku lightly ran his finger across the picture in the book, hardly even listening to what Williams was saying. He knew very well what the picture was of, but… there was no way…

"A-Are you sure? This is exactly what you saw?"

"Well… u-um…." Williams floundered for words briefly before simply nodding. "Do you… know what it is?"

"Yes." The pale white skin, the sagging kimono, all of it combined with the previously mentioned characteristics could only be one creature and, as if to completely dispel any doubt from Kiku's mind, the page even said the creature's name in Japanese. "This… is called a Mu-onna. They are the vengeful spirits of mothers who have lost their children to famine or war. It is said they can protect children, but… that they also might try to merge or absorb the soul of the child they protect. When they do that they… they cast a spell on the child's spirit to put them to sleep…"

It all made sense now. Everyone had said Kiku was the one hurting others, and that might be what the people of his village actually saw, but that didn't mean a supernatural explanation wasn't a possibility. It was a possibility Kiku would have laughed off three days ago, but this school was showing him that "impossible" did not exist.

If a kid within these walls said they could see things you couldn't, you believed him, no questions asked.

You believed teachers who said they could use magic and had been turned into living dolls.

You believed that you were possessed by the spirit of a mother who had lost her child.

You believed _anything_.

"Y-You think your soul is being absorbed?"

Williams' question snapped Kiku back into the present.

That was right. He wasn't alone at the moment.

"I…I am not sure. It is a possibility. The thing is… the stories never mention the Mu-onna attacking _anyone _who touches the child…"

"Spirits rarely follow their stories." That statement was the most solid and confident thing Kiku had heard from the other boy that he had to look up. He was met with the expression of a man who had experienced the truth in his statement more than once and may have even had some scars to prove it. "They're very unpredictable."

"R…Right." It was advice Kiku did not think he would ever let himself forget. "Do… you see spirits often?"

"All the time." There wasn't even any hesitation in the answer. Kiku was having a hard time believing this was the same person he had been talking to the whole time, and that was when Williams' soft smile and usual tone of voice returned. "But… not as much in here so far. I think it might have something to do with spirits respecting the quiet of a library, because even when I do see them in here, they're pretty much silent." He furrowed his brows at the exact moment Kiku again heard the children's laughter. "Except for some new spirits I saw today. They… are not quiet, but then again they are children."

"I…I can hear them." The other's violet eyes widened, and Kiku felt he may have given Williams the wrong impression. "Kind of. I heard their laughter at the top of the staircase and then I heard it now. That is it."

Williams extended his hand to grab Kiku, but changed his mind before they touched. "Don't… if you start hearing more than just their laughter, don't talk to them. I'd suggest that for any spirit, but… these children especially. I've seen children before, and… there's something different about these ones. Bad different. Try to stay away from them if you can."

Kiku nodded. Williams definitely seemed to know what he was talking about. "I will. Thank you."

Williams' whole face softened. "Oh, you're welcome, b-but don't think much of it, really. I was just hoping I'd be able to help a little."

"You helped me a lot. I… am not sure I can thank you enough. Perhaps… we could talk again sometime?" Kiku wasn't very good with people, but now that he knew he didn't have some unexplainable hatred for everyone that caused him to hurt them, he was finding it a bit easier to open up and try being nicer.

The blond beamed. "I-I'd love to!"

"Alright. Then… we shall meet again."

"O-Okay."

Kiku bowed politely and waved slightly. "Until then, goodbye Williams-kun."

"Um… wasn't I '–san' earlier?"

The Japanese man smiled in embarrassment. So Williams had noticed. "Y-yes, you were. I hope you did not take it as me being rude."

Williams shook his head. "No, it's fine."

Kiku guessed his new tentative acquaintance didn't know what the difference was, and that was fine with Kiku.

He left the library soon after, too many thoughts swirling around in his head for him to be able to concentrate on a book, and headed back towards his room. His trek to his silent sanctuary was interrupted when someone grabbed his arm from behind and sent his world spiraling back into darkness.

This time, though, he was ready. He wasn't going to let the Mu-onna win. He fought off the darkness and desire to sleep and when he woke up, it was not because he heard the sound of someone getting hurt.

"Ah! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Please don't hurt me!"

Kiku turned and found the bubbly Italian crouched down on the floor, shaking and sniveling like a baby. When the Italian realized no one was attacking, he took his arms off his head and met Kiku's gaze with half-open eyes.

The Italian smiled. "Oh, thank goodness! I forgot you don't like being touched, so I thought I was a goner!"

"I told you to be careful." The ice-cold German stated as he approached Kiku and the other.

"Sí, sí, I know, but I got so excited Ludwig that I couldn't help myself!" The Italian sprung up from the ground like a jack-in-the-box and proceeded to bounce around.

"Excuse me." Kiku cut it. "Excited about what?"

"Oh! Oh! Let me tell Ludwig! Please!" Ludwig said nothing, so the Italian continued on. "We were coming to ask if you wanted to be our friend Kiku!"

"F…Friend?"

"Sí!"

These people did not know the truth, yet… they wanted to be Kiku's friend? "Why?"

The Italian shrugged, his smile never faltering. "Don't know! I have this feeling that you'd make a good friend, just like Ludwig!"

Kiku meant no offense toward Ludwig, but the German was not the first person that came to mind when he thought of the word "friend". Maybe everyone in this school was simply crazy, and Kiku would have to accept that or he'd go crazy too (if he wasn't already).

"I… suppose… if… you wanted… to-"

"Yay! New friends! New friends!" The Italian cheered as he danced around the stock-still Ludwig and slightly smiling Kiku.

It may have only been the second day of school, but it was already obvious Kiku Honda was changing more than he had in years.

* * *

_Translations (If I missed any, let me know!):_

_Che cosa (Italian)- What_

_Sí (Italian)- Yes_

_Notes about this chapter:_

_-Yes, ancient Chinese culture didn't think homosexuality was weird. At least, that was what a quick google search told me. ^^; _

_-I know very well that China dolls are actually named after the type of porcelain they're made of, but wasn't this so much more fun? I did do some research on the history of China dolls and, while I couldn't find one person or company credited with their creation, most sources said China dolls were made mostly in Germany in their heyday (somewhere between the years 1830 and 1930), so I went with that. _

_-Mu-onna (literally translates to "nothing woman" apparently) is a real Japanese creature. I took a bit of artistic liberty with it, but, according to Wikipedia, I'm staying pretty close to the legends. I'd encourage you to do some research of your own if you're interested in them._

_-All choices for what the characters were called this chapter were made purposefully. Mathieu was called "Williams" the whole time for a number of reasons, one of them being that I believe it helps the reader feel the distance Kiku was experiencing between the people around him. I'm not going to feed you all the answers, so you'll have to interpret other choices yourself!_

_For sticking with me for so long, you all deserve some thanks. For commenting, I'd like to specifically thank __**The Hitch Hiker's Thumb, This is the Circus, NinjaMasterM, Fata Lunevis, KingdomKuroGeass, Mad hatter girl122, EuterpeMuse, **__and __**XxLadyOfSinxX. **__I also thank my friends for putting up with the wait, my mommy for betaing this, and all my favoriters and subscribers._

_Honestly, without all of you, I'd never get these chapters done. EVER._

_Who will be next? Maybe a new trio you won't see coming~ ;)_

_Hope to see you next chapter!_


	4. Chapter 4

_So… wow, don't expect this to become a thing. You know, taking only a little over a month to update. I would love if I could always do that, but don't hold your breath. ^^; Plus, this is my shortest chapter (about 4,300 words I think), but… I think this quick update and shorter chapter balances out last chapter, so we're all good~_

_**Main characters this chapter: Prussia and Austria**_

_**Pov this chapter **__(my friend asked for this and I thought it was a good idea since each chapter focuses on one person's thoughts ^^b)__**: Prussia**_

_Warning: FLASHBACKS. I know some people don't like flashbacks, but I do so meh. They're in Italics and they're important to telling this character's story. =w= _

_Alright, see you at the end. ^w^_

* * *

Days passed and steadily turned into months for the inhabitants of Mother Earth's. The last heat waves of summer gave way to the cool winds of autumn, but by early November the cool winds were already getting cold and snow, rather than rain, threatened to fall from the gray clouds that had made their way over the skies in mid-October and never saw the need to leave.

As the weather changed outside, the students fell into a set routine inside. Every day Kiku, Feliciano, and Ludwig would sit together in the middle of the second row in each class (a compromise reached by Feliciano to make sure Ludwig didn't feel too far away from the teacher and Kiku didn't feel too close), and they rarely left the company of each other until curfew. With his brother busy doing all the talking in his odd trio of friends, Lovino was stuck fending off Alfred's attempts for friendship alone, but any push for partnership from the blond ended with the last class of each day, when Alfred went off to bother Mr. Kirkland and Señor Carriedo quickly took over the job of ticking the Italian off. Mathieu found his place in the routine by settling into the background and burying himself in the library's endless volumes where ghosts rarely bothered him. He'd occasionally have brief conversations with Kiku whenever the Japanese student needed to replenish his nightly reading supply, but otherwise Mathieu had very little interaction with anyone still breathing, including Monsieur Bonnefoy.

Gilbert Welishmidt couldn't see the gray clouds that plagued the skies and he understood little of the social lives of the students he taught gym class to after lunch. He figured out the weather had changed when he opened a window in late October and a freezing wind blew right through him, and he knew that all the students were still alive since they kept coming back to his class. He assumed that Francois or Antonio would tell him if he needed to know anything else, and so he spent his days the same way he had for many years: in ignorant and isolating darkness.

He didn't particularly mind. If it didn't involve him directly, it was probably boring anyway.

"Listen up kiddos!" Gilbert stood before his six students with his arms crossed over his chest and a confident smirk on his lips. He started every class this way because his preferred start (chucking balls at the students from unexpected angles) was not something he could do safely without sight. It had been a real struggle for him to get everyone to agree to him teaching gym class, and if he injured any of the kids seriously he'd probably have to teach something boring like what Francois got stuck with this semester. "I've got a new game for us to play today! Anyone want to guess what it is?"

"Cowboys and Aliens! Baseball! Football, and not the lame kind we always play! The cool one with tackling and touchdowns and-!"

"Nope, sorry Alfred." Gilbert laughed at how enthusiastic Alfred sounded. A lot of the teachers complained about the loud mouth, but Gilbert liked his energy. It reminded the silver-haired man of himself when he was younger. "No American football, no baseball, and… well, I don't know what 'cowboys and aliens' is, so I'm just going to say no. Anyone else?" No one else. "Alright, alright, the awesome me will tell you!" He cleared his throat in preparation for the important announcement. "Today, we're going to play hide-and-seek!"

The lack of enthusiasm was a surprise to no one but Gilbert.

"…What? You think you're all too cool for hide-and-seek?" Unbelievable! Even Gilbert wasn't too cool for hide-and-seek! "I'll have you know it's an awesome game and that _I'm_ the undefeated champion of it."

"But…dude…you're blind." Alfred's painful bluntness also reminded Gilbert of himself. "How do you play hide-and-seek?"

"I don't _just_ play it, Alfred." His confident grin had dropped when he had to go on the defensive for his game. Now it was back. "I _win_."

"But _how?_"

Gilbert shrugged. "Don't know. If you want to find out, you'll have to play me." Gilbert placed his right hand on his hip and pointed with his left index finger in the direction he had been hearing Alfred's voice coming from. "In fact, I challenge all of you to a game of hide-and-seek! If I can't find you all by the next class, then you guys win and tomorrow we can play whatever you want, _but_, if I do find you all before Toni's class you'll be running laps tomorrow! What do you say?"

Alfred didn't even hesitate. "Deal!"

Antonio's favorite pupil let out a strangled cry of annoyance. "What the fuck?!" Gilbert had yet to figure out how Antonio saw an angel in this Italian. "How about you ask the whole class before agreeing, you little piece of sh-?!"

"One!" Gilbert cut in. He didn't particularly care if the rest of the class thought this was "fair"; he was going to prove to Alfred that he was the master of hide-and-seek!

Not a single student stirred. They must not have thought their teacher was serious about all this. Oh, how wrong they were. "You guys only got 'till I get to one-hundred. You can hide anywhere inside the school where you have permission to go, and… you can go ten feet into the forest surrounding the school, but no farther! Got it? Now, you better hurry! Two, three, four, five, six…"

Finally, he heard some light movements. Most of the students seemed to figure out that being quiet would give them an advantage over their blind teacher, but Alfred stomped loudly and shouted for someone to follow him. Gilbert really admired that level of confidence.

"…Thirty-one, thirty-two…skip a few… ninety-nine, one-hundred! Ready or not, here I come!" Gilbert brought his fingers to his lips and blew out a shrill whistle. On cue, Gilbert's secret weapon, a little yellow bird affectionately named Little Awesome, descended from the rafters where it had watched everyone disperse. Little Awesome wouldn't be a fool-proof method of finding everyone, but it definitely gave Gilbert back the advantage of sight.

Little Awesome peeped in front of Gilbert's face so that its presence was known, causing Gilbert to let out a confident laugh. "Sweet! You ready Little Awesome?" Another peep. "Then show the way!"

Following the bird's peeps, Gilbert was led a total of four feet before running into one of the students.

"Eeek!"

Gilbert scrunched his face in confusion and used his hands to mush the student's face. He had been so focused on how loud Alfred was being that he had forgotten to count how many feet he heard leave the gym. "…Wait… little Feli?" Yeah, it had to be! The happier Italian always hung out with Gilbert's student, so he had come to recognize how Feliciano's face squished!

"Ci-Ciao Signore Weilshmidt." Feliciano laughed lightly out of embarrassment as Gilbert continued to play with his face. "You found me!"

Gilbert finally put his hands down, but the confusion didn't leave his features. "Feli, don't you know how to play hide-and-seek? You're supposed to _hide, _not stand right in front of me!"

This wasn't the first time Gilbert had had someone stand right in front of him while playing hide-and-seek. A long time ago, when his red eyes could still perceive the world around him, a young boy with black hair had done the same thing…

* * *

"…_twenty-one, twenty-two…skip a few… ninety-nine, one-hundred! Ready or not, here I- gaaaaaaah!" A young Gilbert, no more than six-years-old, screwed his eyes closed in frustration after he saw Roderich, a boy about the same age who had come from a family with money to waste, standing right in front of him. "You dummkopf! What are you doing?! You were supposed to hide!"_

_Roderich puffed out his cheeks and lifted his head like the high-and-mighty prince he _thought_ he was. Gilbert had no idea why Elizabeta made him invite the little butt! She probably just felt bad for him because none of the kids in town could stand his dumb attitude. "It just rained, Gilbert! I didn't want to get my new clothes dirty!" _

_Gilbert groaned again. "That's why you don't wear new clothes when you play outside after it rains! You wear dirty clothes so that they get dirtier! Duh!"_

_The little "prince" (more like princess) huffed and crossed his arms over his chest. "Unlike _you_ I don't have dirty clothes! My nanny throws anything away the moment it gets a stain on it. She tells me dirty clothes don't have a place in any household."_

_Gilbert had to fight any and all urges to punch the little boy in front of him. His parents had told him the Eidlesteins moved in to one of the poorest places in town because they had squandered most of their fortune, and clearly their old habits were having a hard time dying (how were they still affording a nanny, anyway?). Oh, Gilbert could hardly wait for the little brat to get humbled once he went from best-dressed to raggedy-beggar!_

"_Yeah, yeah, whatever. We'll see how long that lasts." His red eyes looked around in hopes that Elizabeta had been dumb enough to stick around too. No such luck. Man, Elizabeta was good at this game! She was probably his only real competition! "So, you going to tell me which way Lizzy went?"_

"_You wish!" Roderich scoffed. Oh, the brat was _so_ asking for it! "You're the seeker. Find her yourself."_

_Gilbert just rolled his eyes. "Fine. Don't get your panties in a bunch over someone asking for a little help, princess."_

_The black-haired boy's cheeks went red. "What did you call me?!"_

_Cackling madly, Gilbert pushed Roderich right into a puddle of mud before running off to find Elizabeta. _

"_You-You ogre!" Roderich cried out in the distance. "I hate you, G-!"_

* * *

"Signore Weilshmidt?"

Gilbert snapped out of his mental trip to the past with a shake of his head. "Huh? Oh, sorry Feli. Were you saying something?"

"I was explaining how I planned on hiding with Ludwig and Kiku, but they were gone before I could catch up! Then I was going to tag along with my brother, but Alfred took him, and just as I was about to go you got to one-hundred so I was stuck!"

Gilbert nodded slowly. It was a pretty pitiful reason for not hiding, but at least it wasn't as stupid as worrying about dirty clothing. "Sorry Feli, but as the first loser your tasked with telling Toni what's going on if I don't find everyone before next period. It's highly unlikely that you'll have to do anything, but it'll be good to have you around just in case. Think you're up to the possible challenge?"

Feliciano giggled some more and replied, "Yes sir! Leave it to me!"

"Atta boy, Feli!" He ruffled the student's hair before turning around and ordering Little Awesome to show him the way to the next student. With Feliciano found, there were only four students left to find!

…No… that wasn't right… there were five left. "Ah, shit, who's the fifth?" There was Luddy, Kiku, Lovino, Alfred, and…oh! Right! Alfred's super quiet brother, Malcolm or something! Francois' student! Right, right, now Gilbert remembered. "Huh, funny how not even Feliciano mentioned the kid…"

It took some time, but with Little Awesome's help Gilbert was able to find Ludwig in a broom closet, Kiku in his bedroom, and Mathieu (turns out his name was not Malcolm, but at least Gilbert had been close) in the lunchroom. That left only two students, and, according to what Feliciano had said, they were together. After checking every inch inside the building, Gilbert smiled wide in realization.

"'Course that crazy kid went outside! I did say that it was within the parameters, but I didn't think anyone would go out there!" Laughing, he got Little Awesome to lead him outside. A cold wind blew the watery chill of snowflakes onto his face, bringing his mind once again to the past…

* * *

_Gilbert, now a young adult, stormed down a dirt road that was steadily getting blanketed in snow. A lot had changed since his childhood days. The Eidlesteins' spending finally caught up to them and the little brat had changed, but he became even more annoying! Roderich wanted expensive things, but he never spent a goddamn dime! Anyone who was unlucky enough to get stuck with him for the day ended up paying for everything, even if they weren't doing very well financially! The only good part was that after saving up money for years and teaching his parents to do the same, the Edelsteins were finally able to dig themselves out of their financial debt and live comfortably. Roderich even got a piano two years earlier, and he played it beautifully._

_All of that was great. Good for them. They finally fucking learned to not be greedy bastards. Awesome. _

_Their success wasn't the real reason Gilbert was pissed, but he used it as one of many excuses._

_The main cause of his distress had to be Elizabeta, the woman he had loved for a long, long time!_

_He and that girl had always been together, _always_, and the moment Elizabeta had become a beautiful young woman, he fell for her. He thought she loved him too, but now he knew _that_ wasn't true. That dumb Roderich and his _beautiful _piano playing had ensnared her! _

"_It's like she doesn't remember what a snot rich guys like him become! Unbelievable!" He shouted at the air._

_He had confronted her with his feelings only an hour or so before, and she shot him down completely! She said Roderich and her had been together for months already and were waiting for the right time to come out and tell their families. If Elizabeta had just been with _him_ that wouldn't have been a problem. It was only because Roderich's parents could never get rid of their prejudice against the poor despite everything they had been through that Elizabeta had to hide. _

"_Damn it! Dumb Roderich, forcing Lizzy to hide her love! She deserves better than his family's fucking shit!"_

_He told all of that to Elizabeta, too! And what did she do? She slapped him! _HIM! _What the hell?! He was only telling her the truth she was too blinded to see! _

"_Bah! Whatever! I don't need her anyway!"_

_With a broken heart controlling his mind and body, Gilbert veered off the dirt road and entered a dark forest shrouded in legends by the locals. He looked up at the sky every now and again to check the time, but the sky never changed from gray overcast. Even when he was sure hours had passed and it should have been nighttime, the sky was as light as it would be at noon on a cloudy day. _

_That was weird enough to get him to stop walking. _

"_Okay, I know it shouldn't be this bright out. What the hell's going on?" _

_He was squinting at the sky so intently that he didn't notice the old woman emerge from between the trees and approach him until she tugged on his pant leg. He jumped back as a result, immediately on the defensive, but dropped his fighting stance when he saw nothing to fear in the hunched-over woman. _

"_Ah, sorry Miss. I didn't see you there. Um… what are you doing out here in the woods, anyway?"_

_From behind her scraggly silver hair there formed a smile on the woman's face. "What are _you_ doing out here?"_

_Gilbert turned his head to the side as he scuffed the snow with his boot. "Me? Just walking off some steam." His eyes traveled up to the sky again. "Hey, did you happen to notice anything weird about the sky? I swear I came in here hours ago, but it hasn't gotten any darker…"_

"_What happened that you're trying to walk off?"_

_Gilbert could understand someone not wanting to answer his first question because it was too personal or whatever, but the second? It was a logical question! "Are you ignoring my questions on purpose?"_

_The woman shrugged. "I'm simply curious. Not a lot of young folk come wandering out this far into the forest."_

"_Yeah, well…" Gilbert sighed softly and rubbed the back of his head. He came out here to clear his head, but, honestly, it felt foggier. "Took a lot of walking to try and forget a broken heart."_

"_A broken heart you say?" Her dull blue eyes sparked to life. "Do tell me more, deary."_

_Gilbert couldn't explain why, but he did. He ranted and raved about the uptight aristocrat who played on the piano when he wasn't busy being cheap. He started to complain about Elizabeta, but his words turned softer as he went on, a clear sign that he was completely in love. He made her sound like she had turned into a pitiful princess who needed saving from a terrible arranged marriage, but that was a horribly inaccurate bias of the events unfolding between the two lovers. Gilbert's freshly wounded heart didn't allow him to see the situation in any other light but his own, and it was casting his whole mind in shadow._

"_What do you want to do?" The woman asked after Gilbert had finished._

_Gilbert, slightly out of breath from how much energy he had put into his explanation of events, looked at her with his brows furrowed. "Wha…?"_

"_What do you want to do about these people who broke your heart?"_

_Gilbert didn't want to say it. The idea was simply a nasty thought that he believed would quickly go away, but it didn't. It traveled from his heart to his mouth and before he could stop himself he blurted out, "I want them to suffer."_

_There. The idea that had probably been in his broken heart since Elizabeta shot him down was out in the open, and it made Gilbert feel as awful as it did wonderful. Why should he be the only one to hurt? Why was he the only one to get the worst in life?_

_Oh… but they were his friends, whether he wanted to admit it or not. It wouldn't be right to…Gah, but they hurt him first! This was completely fair!_

"_I want them to feel as bad as I do right now! I want their hearts to break!" _

_Awful wishes. Awful, awful wishes, but Gilbert couldn't stop._

"_I want them to see the truth that I see!" _

_The woman's smile turned wicked as the wind around them began to pick up both speed and strength. "You're in luck. I am the witch of this forest, and I will gladly help you out."_

_Gilbert knew that now was the time to start thinking rationally. He had to remember all the stories he had been read as a child and what happened to characters that made deals with witches. He had to find a way out of the forest that never got darker. He had to do a lot, but his mind was still to foggy and his heart was still too broken for him to get any rational thoughts going._

"_What are you thinking of doing?"_

"_Only what you asked! Make them suffer! Break their hearts! Show them the truth that you see! Ah, but…" She reached out a long, bony hand and tightly griped Gilbert's chin between her fingers. "There will be a price. No magic is free."_

_Fuck Gilbert! Don't do this! You're smarter than this! "I don't care what the price is. Just do it."_

_The woman pulled back from Gilbert as her blue eyes began to glow. "Very well then." She raised her arms and began to chant. At first, she spoke in a language Gilbert didn't understand, but as it neared the end she switched to words he understood. "_Because of jealous eyes and a shattered heart, make it so that no matter how close the lovers are, they are always apart!"

_The words cleared the fog from his mind, but it was too late. _

_The blue light in the woman's eyes snaked up to Gilbert's, and though he shut his eyes as tightly as he could, he was unable to keep the light out. "Wait! What are you doing?! What did you do to Lizzy and Roderich?!"_

_The woman's laughed filled the whole space despite how empty it sounded coming from her throat. "You will never see for yourself what your jealousy has caused."_

"_What? No! Stop!" It burned. Oh God, did it burn. It was like someone had put a hot iron directly onto his eyes and kept pushing harder and harder._

"_Those who come out here are led by black and sticky hearts."_

_Stop!_

"_And those kinds of hearts only cause suffering for others."_

_Stop! This wasn't what he truly wanted! It was a mistake! It had to be! _

"_So stay looking to the past and forever listen to whatever future you have caused!"_

_STOP!_

* * *

"Stop it you dipshit!"

"Shhhhh! He'll here us!"

"Good! I didn't want to fucking come out here in the first place! Oi! Signore-!"

"Lovino! Stop! I want to win!"

"Too late." Gilbert put his hands down and was lucky enough to end up hitting two heads. "Caught you two! I win!" His prideful smirk could probably be seen from space. "I told you Alfred! I always win when it comes to hide-and-seek!"

Alfred groaned in defeat. "Aw, man! Our hiding place was good, too! We only had, like, two minutes to class! We almost made it!"

"Idiot!" Gilbert heard Lovino smack Alfred on the arm, hard. "We've been out here in the fucking cold for fucking ever! I hate you! Why didn't you just let me hide where it's warm?!"

Alfred didn't reply right away. Instead, he tilted his head down with Gilbert's hand still on it and remained silent for a good few beats before finally saying in the most pathetic voice Gilbert had ever heard from the American, "I'm sorry."

Even Lovino was surprised. "…Eh? W…Well," He fidgeted underneath Gilbert. "Don't do it again, okay?! If I want to hide outside in the snow, I'll tell you, idiot! I don't let people just drag me around, friend or not!"

Alfred perked up instantly. "Friend?"

"I…I didn't say that! I said 'friend or not'! Fucking listen when I'm speaking to you!" The Italian hurriedly stood up and ran off in the direction of the school with Alfred following soon after.

"Am I 'friend' or 'not'? I'm 'friend', right? Right?"

"No! Stay the fuck away from me, goddamn it! You just hear what you want to!"

Gilbert laughed. Alfred was persistent. Lovino really didn't have a chance. He might as well just give in and say they were friends.

"Alright Little Awesome," Gilbert wiped away a stray tear that had been a result of his laughter and flicked the droplet of water into the trees. "Let's get back to school."

Little Awesome got Gilbert all the way to the second floor when Gilbert hushed him gently. Little Awesome stopped his peeping, allowing Gilbert to more clearly hear the crying he knew all too well. He snuck his way down the hall by keeping his back pressed to the wall and when he stopped before Roderich's piano room, his heart fell. Elizabeta truly was crying. Again.

How many times had she cried while haunting melodies engulfed the room but couldn't drown her out? How many times had Gilbert heard the noises that reminded him of his mistake?

The noises, God, the noises. When Gilbert woke up after his encounter with the witch to find that his eyesight was gone, he thought that was the price he paid. He found out later when he approached the familiar sound of Roderich's piano that he had been only half right. The piano never ceased, and it took less than a week for it to drive him mad.

Elizabeta's crying only made everything worse. She hadn't been the kind of girl to let the world see when she felt weak, but getting ignored day in and day out by the man she truly loved broke her. Gilbert heard her try everything to get a reaction, and he heard her break down in tears when every attempt failed.

Just like the witch had said, Roderich and Elizabeta were so close but so very far away.

It was awful.

What Gilbert had done to them was completely unforgivable, and he didn't blame Elizabeta for hating him after she found out the truth.

Oh, the truth. Gilbert had asked for Roderich and Elizabeta to see the truth he saw, but, because he saw only lies, he now saw nothing. That witch… she knew what she had been doing.

So, now that years of self-loathing had passed, he decided to do what the witch had told him to and listened to what the future would bring, hoping to find a way to fix what he had done.

Little Awesome cuddled into Gilbert's neck and let out a soft peep. Smiling, Gilbert scratched the top of its head. "Don't worry little buddy." He wiped away some dumb tears that had tried to wet his cheeks. He didn't have time for them anymore. He had to remove the insurmountable distance he had put between his old friends. "I'm alright. Today just reminded me that I've got a big job to do."

Suddenly, a scream ripped through the hall. Little Awesome popped instantly into action and led Gilbert to a classroom close by. Other people rushed by him, all of them gasping and mumbling, but none of them coming out and saying what was going on.

Frustrated, Gilbert called out, "Hey! Anyone want to tell the blind guy why we're gasping and screaming?!"

"I-It's S-Signore Carriedo!" Feliciano, the one who had screamed, choked out. "He-He-He's dead!"

Sure enough, on the ground next to Gilbert's feet lay Antonio with an ax through his chest.

"…Scheiße."

* * *

_Translations (As always, if I missed one, let me know!):_

_Ciao (Italian)- Hello_

_Signore (Italian)- Mr._

_Dummkopf (German)- Idiot_

_Scheiße (German)- Shit_

_Chapter notes:_

_-I really would have liked to bring in a real Grimm Fairy Tale reference, but I couldn't find any stories that blended in nicely with my ideas, so… Gilbert became his own Grimm Tale! Yay!_

_-I thought about writing down here how Gilbert's interpretation of the people around him is very different than my own, but… I'd really like to hear what you all interpreted about Roderich and Elizabeta based on Gilbert's retelling of the past. You don't have to, but if you'd like to leave a review but aren't quite sure what to say beyond "Good chapter! Update soon!", you could let me know who it seemed like Gilbert may have vilified or something. I-I know it sounds kind of like questions you'd have to answer at school, but as an author it'd be super helpful if I saw how I did with Gilbert's pov! After all, I've never written for a blind person before! _

_Uh… guess that's it. Super big thanks to __**XxLadyOfSinxX, EuterpeMuse, A.R.C Fangirl 0w0v **__(this person gets super mega ultra thanks, and if you're wondering why, go check out their comment!), __**Froggiecool, Guest, and MegaOtaku777 **__for beautiful comments! I wuv you all! Mwah! Mwah!_

_Next chapter? Antonio! That's all you really need to know~_

_I hope to see you again! Bye~!_


	5. Chapter 5

_DO NOT EXPECT THIS, DO NOT EXPECT THIS, DO NOT EXPECT THIS, DO NOT EXPECT THIS, DO NOT EXPECT THIS, __**DO NOT EXPECT UPDATES SO SOON IN THE FUTURE.**_

_This was all a fluke in my usual system due to a host of events! I happened to have the whole past week off, which gave me a whole bunch of time to work on chapter four. Then, because chapters three and four took so long, I've been planning chapter five for months! Plus, the main characters of this chapter happen to be two characters I had over a solid year of practice writing for (roleplays. Lots of roleplays), so all of this combined made chapter five come to you only TWO DAYS AFTER THE LAST UPDATE. _

_Please note pretty much every hour I was awake for those two days was spent on this chapter, meaning it took me over twelve hours to write and edit and all that jazz (I sleep a lot. I'm really friggin lazy). Now that school's starting up again, you can imagine how hard it'll be for me to pull off something like this EVER AGAIN._

_Okay, okay, I'll stop explaining myself now._

_**Main characters this chapter: Spain and Romano**_

_**Pov this chapter: Romano **__(I apologize in advance for his language)_

_Go forth and read what I have created for you, my lovely readers! TwT _

* * *

Lovino Vargas hated Mother Earth's School for the Cursed, Unlucky, and Damned since day one. Hell, the moment he realized the school's name could be shorted to Mother Earth's School for C.U.D, freaking _cud_, he knew the place was going to be awful.

He only agreed to going because Feliciano had been so adamant about taking up the school's offer of a "safe haven" of sorts, though the older twin had no idea why. He couldn't imagine that the school was going to be any different from the dozens of other places they had been shipped off to.

Every place for the past twelve years had been the same. They'd arrive, they (Feliciano) would get close to a few people, one or more of those people would die, and then the twins would become someone else's problem. It was a curse, a curse that caused everyone they became close with to die. It started when they were five and their parents had been found with their throats slit. It extended to all of their grandparents, seven other guardians, and over thirty children. The explanation for all of this? They were twins, and twins were cursed! Lovino had been told it so many times, that he simply accepted it as truth.

He didn't particularly mind being cursed, really. He had never been much of a people person, and people were never fond of him. He knew most of the people who hung out with the twins in the past were around because of Feliciano and were kind to the older Italian only out of necessity. Lovino couldn't really blame them; he knew Feliciano was much more pleasant company. It still hurt when it happened, but after a while he stopped getting mad at the people who treated him like he was second or even third best and did what he could to avoid them so they didn't end up being another victim.

At Mother Earth's, though, people… there were people who didn't seem to be nice to him only because they wanted to know more about Feliciano. It was weird, but for some unknown reason two people in particular, Signore Carriedo and Alfred, wanted to know about Lovino. No matter how many times he cursed or smacked them, the idiots wouldn't back down. They even had schedules! Alfred pestered him during the school day, and Signore Carriedo had him cornered from the moment classes ended to when they were required to be in their rooms at nine.

Since everyone the twins got close to died, Lovino did his best, despite how much he might have liked a friend or two, not to enjoy their company. It wasn't so hard with Alfred, thanks to the blond never listening to a word Lovino said, but rejecting Signore Carriedo's company became increasingly harder as the days went on. Unlike Alfred, Lovino's idiotic teacher listened and practically doted on every word that came out of Lovino's mouth. It was annoying and stupid and it was really hard to tell the Spaniard to get the fuck out of his face because sometimes he would and he'd look really fucking sad and then Lovino would end up begrudgingly letting him stay a bit longer and-

Yeah… Lovino was losing the war against his teacher's compassion. What was he supposed to do? His brother was having a fine and dandy time with some of the other students! Why couldn't he enjoy the company of people trying so hard to be his friend?

He found out the day he heard his brother's scream coming from Signore Carriedo's room.

The world around him slowed down as his heart rate picked up. It couldn't be happening. Not again. Signore Carriedo and him weren't _that_ close. They hadn't even known each other for half a year yet! It had to be a mistake.

He arrived to the classroom later than most, but after a little pushing and shoving he was able to see what everyone was gasping at.

He couldn't believe it. He fell to his knees, his legs shaking too much to effectively hold him up any longer, and wrapped his arms around his chest as he tried to hold himself together. This had to be a nightmare. It… It had to be…

"Hey! Anyone want to tell the blind guy why we're gasping and screaming?!"

Don't say it. If no one says it, it isn't real.

"I-It's S-Signore Carriedo! He-He-He's dead!"

Feliciano said it. It was real. Signore Carriedo truly was lying before him at the front of the classroom with that stupid sixteenth-century ax he kept displayed in class through his chest. Lovino had told him that having something so dangerous poised at the ready was going to kill the Spaniard, but that didn't mean he had actually wanted his prediction to come true!

"…Scheiße."

That's all the German (Prussian, whatever) fucker could say? Lovino thought he and Signore Carriedo were friends!

"Toni," The blind bastard was still talking! Couldn't he sense the mood?! "Get up man. You're stressing out the kids."

Lovino shot his gym teacher the nastiest glare he could manage. He didn't care that the expression wasn't going to be seen by its receiver; Signore Weilshmidt was going to be _feeling_ Lovino's anger in a moment if he didn't keep his mouth shut!

"Look!"

"What the-?"

"It can't be!"

Lovino whipped his head back towards his teacher to see what the other students were yelling about. He became even more shocked than he had been when he saw Signore Carriedo dead on the floor.

First, the movements were minimal. A twitch here and there. Things easily dismissed as tricks of the eye. Then, Signore Carriedo blinked. He blinked! He blinked and his glossy green eyes went back to their normal bright selves. Not long after that he groaned and sat up with the ax still sticking out of his chest.

This had to be a nightmare. Weird shit like this didn't happen in real life.

"Ugh…" The Spaniard rubbed the back of his neck and stretched out his spine like he was waking up from a nap. "Dios… dying hurts no matter how many times you do it…"

All Lovino could do was gape.

Wha…?

He glanced at his brother, trying to make sure he wasn't the only one seeing this, and he saw an expression he couldn't quite pinpoint flash across Feliciano's face before it was replaced with shock. Too much was running through Lovino's head for him to process another odd occurrence, so he pushed the expression to the back of his mind and turned his attention back to Signore Carriedo.

"Oui, I am sure it does." Oh, great, now their French English teacher was adding to the conversation. It would be nice if he actually explained what was going on, unlike when he was actually teaching. "How many times have we told you to be careful Antonio? You never know when it's going to be the death that kills you."

Lovino didn't miss Signore Carriedo's eyes darting to Feliciano before he sounded an out-of-place, embarrassed chuckle. Something was definitely going on. "I know, I know. I guess I'm just too clumsy for my own good."

"Okay, what the heck is going on?!" For once in his life, Alfred was asking a logical question. "How did you come back from the dead? Are you a zombie or something?!" Aaaaand… there went logic.

Signore Carriedo, the bastard, kept laughing. "No, no. Sorry." He pried the ax out of his chest like it was nothing, causing fresh blood to ooze down his shirt. He ignored all of this and continued speaking. "Well… maybe, actually. Depends on your definition, I suppose."

"What… would you say you are?" That was the Japanese kid Feliciano always hung out with. It was nice that people kept asking the questions on Lovino's mind, because he couldn't get his mouth to work for the life of him.

Signore Carriedo took a moment to think. "I… would call myself a man who has lived far too long for his own good." Just when Lovino felt he might be able to vocalize a question, Signore Carriedo stood up and announced, "I'll answer any more questions in a little bit. It's my class right now, and I'll make the lesson today a quick biography of me! This is history class, after all."

The Spaniard smiled, but that didn't magically make everything better. The idiot was still bleeding, and Lovino's head was still a confused mess, and something was still going on.

"Are you sure you're up to teaching, Antonio?" Signore Bonnefoy sounded actually concerned, which was a nice tone to finally hear from one of the three adults in the room. Lovino had no idea where the other teachers were, but he was starting to get the idea that Signore Carriedo dying wasn't a bit deal to anyone but the students.

"I'll be fine." Signore Carriedo assured, his dumb smile never faltering. "I've done more strenuous things after dying than explaining myself. Now, get out, get out." He pushed the other two teachers out of the room with his ax still in hand, which meant Signore Weilshmidt had a huge bloody blade hanging five inches above his head without his knowledge. "I have a class to teach!"

Lovino didn't think he could get up. The little information they had gotten wasn't enough to snap him out of his shock. Thankfully, Feliciano came to his rescue and helped him get to a seat. For the first time in a long time, the two Italian twins sat together. It was a nice, comfortable setup, and Lovino was grateful that he wouldn't have to put up with any of Alfred's constant chatter while he tried to sort through all the information that was getting dumped on him from every direction.

When all the students were seated and Signore Carriedo was the only teacher left in the room, the still-bleeding Spaniard sat behind his desk at the front of the room and twirled the handle of the ax in his hand.

"Where to start…?" He mused out loud. "How about… when I was born? ¡Sí! I was born on February 12, 1489 in a small village in España, or Spain for those of you who don't know Spanish."

What?

WHAT?!

The bastard hardly looked twenty-five! How could he be over five-hundred?!

Signore Carriedo looked at his students and burst out laughing. Lovino looked around and saw disbelief on everyone's face except the creepy German's (but that kid never expressed anything, so it wasn't much of a surprise anymore). "Look at me how you want, but it's true! I was born in 1489 and this," he stopped twirling the ax and held it up proudly for everyone to see. "This is mine. I used it as I fought by the sides of many famed explorers."

Alfred, never one for raising his hand, blurted out, "Wait, so you met Christopher Columbus?"

Signore Carriedo nodded. "Sí. Honestly, he wasn't that great. None of them were, but I didn't think that back then. Back then, they were heroes, and I was honored to fight for them and España!" A far off look entered the teacher's eyes and, if you looked hard enough, you could practically see the glory the past had awarded him reflecting in his irises. Not that Lovino was staring or anything! He just happened to notice!

"The first real expedition I went on was with none other than Ponce de León in 1512. …or was it 1513? Anyway, we were charged with finding and conquering an island called Bimini, a place said to posses a fountain with the power to restore youth." He stood, the action clearly fueled by excitement. "After what must have been months of searching, we found it just south of Florida. Negotiations with the local leaders didn't go very well, so we went on to the next step of slaughtering the smaller villages until our demands to be shown the legendary waters were met."

An uncomfortable atmosphere formed in the classroom when Signore Carriedo's excitement did not waver when he spoke of killing other human beings. In fact, not only did it not waver, it got stronger, bordering on the manic. A new side of Signore Carriedo was being shown to the students at Mother Earth's, and it wasn't a good one.

"Village after village fell beneath our blades, but their leaders would not budge. We had no choice but to enter their capital and destroy that as well. I was directed to a small hut on the outskirts of capital and told to see what it was for. Inside I found a medicine man of sorts praying to one of their pagan goddesses. I raised my blade to chop him down, but he turned and gave me a look that froze me. I wasn't well versed in the language of the area, but I understood his chants. His exact words are lost to me now, but he basically cursed me to live the life of every man, woman, and child my people killed.

"I didn't take him seriously at the time and disposed of him soon after.

"We killed all of the inhabitants of the island, but never found the fountain. We moved on to other islands, and I died during an attack from one of the native groups. Miraculously, I came back to life with only a few scars to remind me of what had happened. Ponce de León and his men tried to kill me multiple times, but I came back again and again. I told him about what the man in the hut had said, but Ponce de León became convinced that I must have accidentally sipped from the legendary fountain. In 1514, Ponce de León killed me before the king to prove that we had found the waters of youth. The king believed him and sent him to conquer Florida while I was shown to be the man death could not take for his own!"

Signore Carriedo's excitement finally dissipated as his ax blade fell to the ground. "It was fun for quite some time, but after Cortez found the Aztecs, my dreams became plagued with visions of the people's lives I was taking on because their time had been cut short. The king and queen were also starting to get nervous because of my inability to stay dead, so they sent me on another voyage to the New World hoping I'd get lost or finally dealt the final blow.

"I've… pretty much been wandering around since then. I've gone through periods of time where all I did was kill myself again and again and again, but here I am, still standing. It hurts every time, too. There's no way to die that's preferable over others; they're all excruciating…"

The class was silent. It was a lot of "history" to take in for one lecture.

In the end, it was Ludwig who raised his hand and asked the next question. "How many times have you died?"

"Good question." Signore Carriedo lifted his eyes to the ceiling, trying to find the answer within the cracks of the tiles. "I believe I've died and had my soul shoved back into my body… 2,792,608 times, but it might be a little more or less. I think I forgot to mark a few of my deaths. Either way, I have a lot more deaths ahead of me. I will be living until I've paid for every sin my country committed, but," He smiled. After everything he had admitted to, he actually found the energy to smile. It was marked with sadness, but it was a smile, nonetheless. "That's alright. It means I get to meet all sorts of interesting people, like all of you."

Kiku raised his hand next. "Excuse me for saying so, but I've never seen Bimini on any map."

The teacher shrugged. "I know. No one was ever able to find it after we did. I can't tell you what happened to it, but I have the scars to prove it was real. I…" Signore Carriedo's body swayed as he put a hand to his head. He tried to play it off as nothing by continuing to smile, but when he faltered again everyone knew something was wrong.

Then his body crumpled to the ground, the amount of blood he had lost finally catching up to him and causing his second death of the day.

* * *

Lovino smacked his head onto his desk once Signore Bonnefoy dismissed them from English. After seeing his teacher dead twice and having to go through fifty minutes of a Frenchman ranting about how terrible the English language was, he needed a break very badly. He'd probably just ignore any homework they had gotten that night and go straight to bed as soon as he collected the energy to make it to his room. Yeah… that sounded nice…

"Lovino?"

Oh hell no. Not today.

"Alfred, get the hell out of my face. I don't want to talk to you today."

"U-Um, I'm sorry, but I'm not Alfred. That's my brother."

Lovino frowned into the desk. Alfred's brother? Who was that? Was Alfred just shitting with him? Ah…but… when he thought about it, the voice was a bit different. Shit.

Slowly, Lovino turned his head towards not-Alfred's voice and saw a kid who kind of looked like Alfred but kind of didn't. How long had this kid been at the school?

"…What do _you_ want?"

The boy fidgeted and looked genuinely nervous. Yeah, this definitely wasn't Alfred. "I…I don't want to upset you, but I have to talk to you about your brother."

Lovino lifted his head completely, a mean scowl on his face. His brother? What about his fucking brother? Lovino noticed Feliciano was already gone from the classroom like everyone else, leaving Lovino and the kid next to him the only two left. That probably wasn't why Alfred's brother was here, though.

"What about him?"

Lovino was having doubts about the kid being Alfred's brother. He shook like a damn leaf every time Lovino opened his mouth! Though, to be fair, none of Lovino's words weren't the nicest… but still! He said sharper stuff to Alfred every day and the guy was never fazed! No way could Alfred and this kid have the same blood!

"There…" The boy started to play with the sleeves of his red hoodie to avoid eye-contact with Lovino. "There's something wrong with him…"

Lovino was instantly on his feet and in the kid's face. "You've got a problem with my brother, huh?!"

"N-No! I-!"

"Because if you've got a problem with him, you've got a problem with me, and you don't want to have a problem with me!"

Lovino went to grab the front of the kid's sweatshirt, but he was pushed back with a level of strength he wasn't expecting. "No! Listen! I'm worried! That's all! I don't have a problem with either of you!"

Still surprised by the force used against him, Lovino decided not to advance any further on the kid. Instead, he folded his arms over each other and continued to glare. "Yeah? Worried about what?"

"I…" The kid sighed and stuffed his hands in his pockets. "I'm worried about what happened today."

Oh, this kid was asking for it! "What about today?!"

"Just… didn't you think it was a bit weird that Monsieur Carriedo was found with his ax through his chest at the front of his room when he usually has it near the back? There wasn't even a blood trail to suggest he came from the back and happened to collapse at the front."

"So? Maybe he was polishing the damn thing! You saw how he talked about it! He loved it!"

The kid shook his head. "Unless he pushed it into his chest on purpose, it was in too deep for it to be a simple polishing accident. Plus, there were no polishing tools around."

"Well then maybe he did do it himself, ever think of that?! He told us today he kills himself all the fucking time!"

"I…" The kid began to gnaw on his bottom lip as his eyes looked everywhere but at Lovino.

Beyond pissed, Lovino closed the distance between them again. "You better come out and say what you're trying to suggest before I punch your damn eye out, kid! Alfred's brother or not, I'll do it!" No one insulted Feliciano in front of Lovino's face and got away with it!

"I…I don't like the idea, but you have to admit that there's a chance that… that your brother might have… I mean, he was the one who found the body! You always have to suspect the person who arrived first!"

Lovino couldn't help but laugh. The idea was completely ridiculous. Feliciano? His brother Feliciano? Attempting to murder someone? Please! His twin was as gentle as a baby bird! He probably didn't even have the strength to lift the ax!

"That's the stupidest thing I've heard all year, and I've had to put up with your brother for a few months!" How did anyone get it into their head that his brother was capable of something like that? "He didn't even have any blood on him! Where'd you even get an idea like that?"

"I-I don't know about how he was able to stay clean… he m-might have changed clothing or-"

Lovino's laughter stopped abruptly. This kid was still pushing the idea, and it wasn't funny anymore. "Shut up and get the fuck out of my sight before I really do punch you in the eye for saying shit about my brother." Lovino gathered up his stuff and hurried out of the classroom, tired of hearing what the kid had to say.

Feliciano tried to kill Signore Carriedo? Yeah right.

* * *

The next day, everything went back to normal. It was like the previous day hadn't happened at all. Feliciano went back to hanging out with the German and Japanese kids, Alfred talked Lovino's ear off all day, and Signore Carriedo wasn't bleeding all over the place.

Everything was just the way it should be and Lovino liked it that way. The previous day had been way too much of a headache and he decided by the end of it that he'd just accept things at face value and move on with life to keep from going crazy. At least he didn't have to worry about his teacher getting affected by the twins' curse.

But then, in the middle of one of Signore Bonnefoy's many rants about English, the Frenchman's cellphone went off. He answered it without hesitation or apology, and after a few nods of his head he hung up and said, "Feliciano, there's someone waiting for you in the hallway and Mére would like you to follow him. I don't know where he's taking you, but I assure you that Mére would never send you off with someone dangerous."

"Okay!" Feliciano popped up from his seat and bounced into the hallway, not a single care showing on his face. Feliciano didn't have to worry, because Lovino was doing enough of that for the both of them.

Where were they taking his brother? Did Alfred's brother blab his stupid idea to a teacher and get his brother in trouble?! If that was what happened…!

A few minutes later, Signore Carriedo opened the door with a sunny smile on his lips. "¡Hola! I came to get Lovino!"

Signore Bonnefoy gestured for Lovino to go, which he did, but much more hesitantly than his brother had. Something was going on, and he wanted to know what it was!

"Where are you taking me?" He demanded to be told as soon as Signore Carriedo closed the classroom door behind them.

Signore Carriedo blinked at him a few times as the question processed in his mind. The answer he gave was not one Lovino wanted. "You'll see when we get there!"

The bastard walked away without saying anything else, so Lovino had no choice but to follow him if he wanted some real answers. They walked up to the third floor, turned left, and approached a door at the end of the hallway with no name plate on it. Signore Carriedo opened the door and on the other side was a blue staircase. Lovino had _known_ the outside of the building looked too big to have only three floors inside, but he didn't know how you got any higher. If he got nothing else out of this trip, at least he'd know how to finally get to the fourth floor.

The teacher and student climbed the stairs and came to what Lovino called the Forest Green Floor. Everything, _fucking_ _everything, _was dark green: the carpet, the walls, the stairwell on the other side of the hall, and the only two doors on the level. It made no sense, but neither did the rest of the school's color scheme.

The only two doors were both on far end of the left wall, and Lovino was taken to the one closest to the green staircase. This door was also opened by Signore Carriedo because Lovino was not taking any chances. If a goddamn boa constrictor jumped out from behind the door, then it could twist around his teacher and kill him a few dozen times while Lovino found his brother and got the hell out of the school.

To Lovino's relief, nothing jumped out from behind the door. It turned out beyond the green door was a small green room with a single large window looking into another, much larger green room. How… anticlimactic.

"…I don't get it. Why the hell did you take me here?" Was he getting an extended tour of the school, or…?

"Ciao Mother!"

Hey, wait, was that…?

"_Hello Feliciano."_

It was! "Feliciano!" Lovino rushed to the window and, sure enough, on the other side was Feliciano talking to the projected silhouette they had seen during the opening ceremonies. Standing next to Feliciano was a towering man wearing a heavy coat and a tattered scarf. He had never seen the man before, but he didn't like him. Not at all.

"Feliciano! It's me, your fratello!" Nothing. "Aren't you going to answer me?!" Lovino pounded on the glass, but Feliciano didn't even flinch.

"Whoa, whoa!" Signore Carriedo grabbed Lovino's fists to stop them from hitting the glass again. "He can't hear or see you, Lovino! The glass is like one of those one-way mirrors you see on TV! Mother requested that I take you here so you observe what's about to happen!"

Lovino wanted to scream a number of things at his teacher, but he wanted to know what was going on with his brother more. He tore his hands out of Signore Carriedo's grip and, after letting out a quiet huff, set his eyes on what lay beyond the glass.

"_Do you know why you're here Feliciano?"_

Feliciano shook his head. "Nope!" His smile fell. "I'm not in trouble, am I?"

"_Hm, not really. Not as long as you answer my questions honestly. Do you think you can do that for me, Feliciano?"_

He perked right back up. "I can!"

"_Good. Now, why did you put an ax into your history teacher yesterday?"_

This was the same shit Alfred's brother had been spouting! Lovino turned to Signore Carriedo, prepared to defend his brother with every argument he could think of, but his teacher shushed him and forced his attention back to the window.

"Just watch Lovino. You need to watch." Signore Carriedo was smiling, but an unusual amount of seriousness in his tone compelled Lovino to listen to the order.

Feliciano's expression morphed from blissful happiness to horrified shock. He nervously brought his fingers to his lips as his eyes darted all around the room. He looked… _guilty. _But that couldn't be! Feliciano was a good kid stuck with an ill-tempered brother! He-!

"I…I had to!" He shouted at last. Lovino's eyes went wide.

"_Why did you have to?"_

Something flicked on within Feliciano. His nervous façade melted into anger Lovino had never seen on his brother before. "His smile! It wasn't the same! It was kinder! Warmer!"

"_What do you mean, Fel-?"_

"I went into his classroom right after Signore Weilshmidt found me so that I'd have some company while waiting for everyone else, and he gave me a smile that was nicer than anything he's given Lovino while the two of them are alone!"

What? How would Feliciano even know that? He…He was always with Japanese and German kids!

"Ever since we were little, though Lovino and I were born together, we weren't treated the same! My parents were usually fair, but once they were gone, everyone would always treat me better, no matter how hard my brother tried! So…so I heard some adults gossiping about how the birth of twins could bring about calamity, and I thought… I thought if calamity followed us, we'd finally be treated the same, so I… so I killed our grandparents! Each one! I did my research and made sure each one looked like an accident!"

_What? _No! No… those… those really were accidents. The police said so!

"And we were taken away. My brother and I were brought somewhere new, and I hoped with all my heart that it'd be different, but it wasn't. The same thing happened! People kept treating me better, and I kept killing them, but no one was treating us as equals! No matter how much blood I soaked my hands with, all I had to do was smile and I was somehow better than Lovino!

"This place… this school… it was my last hope… if someone couldn't treat Lovino as my equal or better here, where everyone was messed up, I… I didn't know what I'd do… And when things were actually working, I was so excited! There were people who didn't even look at me, but pestered Lovino all the time, and even though he acted upset, I knew he was happy, finally happy. He even started to get comfortable around them! It was wonderful!

"But then I saw that smile and I knew it was all a lie! The person Lovino was comfortable around the most gave me a warmer smile and I just… the ax came to my hands and I… I had to end him. I had to end the lie!"

Lovino could hardly recognize his brother anymore. Black, inky smoke engulfed him completely, allowing only the light of two red eyes to shine through.

All of this couldn't be true! His brother? Killing so many people? No! Feliciano was the kindest soul on the planet! He wouldn't hurt a fly!

"It's alright Lovino." Signore Carriedo said softly. Lovino wanted to kill him. Alright? How the hell was any of this alright?! "Mother knew about this from the beginning. She requested that I treat Feliciano nicer if we were ever alone together because she knew I'd be alright if anything happened. Your brother's anger has festered in his heart for so long that it's formed into another being. You can think of it as a demon that engulfs him. Now that we've got it riled up, we can take care of it so that Feliciano doesn't hurt anyone else."

"Mi…Mio fratello…" A demon had taken control of his brother? For something as stupid as Lovino not getting treated very nicely? Tears Lovino didn't even try to fight flowed from his eyes as he pressed his hands to the glass, wanting nothing more than to help Feliciano. "You… you idiot! You didn't… have t-to worry about someone l-like me. I would have b-been fine. I…Idiot…"

The stranger in the room with Feliciano stepped forward and spoke for the first time. "Would that be my cue, Mother?"

Mother sighed deeply. _"Yes. But do try to be careful, Ivan. I don't want either of you to get hurt."_

"Do not worry, Mother." Ivan placed a hand on what looked to be Feliciano's shoulder and shoved him back with enough force to send him crashing into a wall more than fifteen feet away. "We will be just fine."

"Feliciano!" Lovino's tears dried up in an instant and big-brother mode set in. "Who… Who is that in there with him?! What is he doing to Feliciano?!"

"That's Ivan Braginsky, and he was in last year's generation of students with me. Mother told me his situation had been somewhat similar to your brother's. He and two girls had been the test subjects for a lab hoping to create the ultimate weapon. The three of them, whether they were related by blood or not, became the closest of siblings, and when the girls were terminated because they showed no promise, Ivan killed everyone within the research facility. He… still hasn't fully recovered mentally, so I think Mother is going to make them fight until they both get ahold of all their demons."

Lovino tore himself away from the glass and headed toward the door once he saw Feliciano get back up with a murderous look in his inhuman red eyes. He had to help his brother. He couldn't leave him alone, not when all of this was his fault for being such an ass to everyone!

However, his bastard teacher, who had known about all of this the whole fucking time, stopped him before he got even close to the door by grabbing his arm. "Lovino, where are you going?"

Lovino wrenched his arm away and glared daggers at his teacher. "To help my brother! Where the fuck do you think I'm going?!"

"Lovino!" Signore Carriedo wrapped his arms around Lovino's torso from behind, a position that was much harder to escape from. "You can't! I'm sorry, but you can't go in there! Not right now! Only two things will happen if you go in there! One: Feliciano will stop fighting and the demon will continue to fester within him until it completely consumes him. Two: Feliciano won't stop fighting and he'll kill you. I… I know it must be hard, but you have to let him fight this out, or he'll never get better."

Lovino's struggling gradually got weaker and weaker until he was barely holding himself up in Signore Carriedo's arms. This wasn't fair. None of this was fucking fair. Why did he have to be so fucking useless?!

Once Lovino stopped struggling, Signore Carriedo was able to loosen his grip and soften his voice. "You can come to this room every day after classes if you'd like, but that other room will not open until Mother gives up the key. He might be there for a day, or he might be there for months. We don't know how long it'll take, but I promise he'll come out one day Lovino. I promise."

"And I'll hit him." Lovino angrily wiped away his tears with the fist he planned on clobbering his brother with. "I'll hit him and yell at him and tell him he's the biggest idiot on the whole fucking planet and that he better not do anything so stupid again!"

The Spaniard smiled sadly. "You do that Lovino. I'm sure he'll appreciate it once this is all done."

* * *

Alone, Lovino stood in front of the door to his room. Alone…

"Hey! Lovino!" Alfred ran towards Lovino at full speed, and Lovino stepped aside at the last moment, causing the American to trip and smack onto the floor. Couldn't Alfred see he was busy being alone?! "Dude! Come on! What was that fo-?"

"You have a brother, right?"

Alfred looked up from his place on the ground, visibly confused. "…Yeeeeaaah…Why?"

"If you have a brother, spend time with _him_ instead of _me_, you little fuck!" Lovino turned and looked down at Alfred, his eyes shining with unshed tears. How could anyone not even mention their brother when all they did was talk?! "I met him! He's a damn smart kid! Sees stuff others don't! I'm going to be busy for… for I don't know how long, and I want you to stop ignoring him all the damn time because you don't know when your brother might get ripped away from you!"

Lovino didn't know the weight of his words, nor did he know that his warning to Alfred had come too late.

* * *

_Translations (some of these are just nice reminders in case you forgot ^w^):_

_Signore (Italian)- Mister_

_Scheiße (German)- Shit_

_Dios (Spanish)- God_

_Oui (French)- Yes_

_Sí (Spanish)- Yes_

_España (Spanish)- Spain_

_Monsieur (French)- Mister_

_Hola (Spanish)- Hello_

_Ciao (Italian)- Hello_

_Fratello (Italian)- Brother_

_Mio fratello (Italian)- My brother_

_Chapter notes:_

_-Did anyone else notice the "school for cud"? That was an inside joke I had had with myself since the beginning. _

_-Ponce de León and the fountain of youth. Yeah… real explorer, but is it a real legend? Who knows. Most of the info I gave you of Ponce de León (excluding Antonio's involvement, of course) is accurate based on my research. I thought about having Antonio getting affected by the waters, but I feel the curse I gave him holds so much more meaning. Plus, I didn't want a whole bunch of immortal Spaniards walking around!_

_-2,792,608 times?! It's possible. I did some quick math, and if he killed himself 15 times a day, every day, for 500 years (leap years not included), he'd die a total of 2,700,000 times. Add another twenty years and he would have died 2,847,000 times. Since… I don't want there to be an exact time or place put to this story (not yet, at least) I shifted the number around factoring in a whole bunch of variables (maybe he killed himself more than fifteen times a day for a few years, and stopped completely for a few more, etc.). _

_-Feliciano and Lovino's "curse" has its reasons. In fact, their curse was probably one of the first that I came up with. If you think about it, canonically, the Italian brothers saw a hell of a lot of countries die before they became Italy. Since Romano isn't a full country anymore and Veneziano is usually referred to as the "Italy", a lot of the country's faults would be put on his shoulders. People can say what they will, but I don't think there's a single country in Hetalia that's all happy or all sad, not with their history. And what about Lovino in this story? Ha ha... mwahaha... _

_-I bet none of you saw Russia coming. I've been planning him from the beginning, too~ But… yeah… Ukraine and Belarus are long dead. That's pretty sad, but a lot of things in this fic are. I didn't want to make him just Big Bad Russia. I wanted him to have reasons for his actions, just like everyone else. _

_-This was the chapter I realized my love for non-romantic bro-love has really bled through in this story. I love it so much, you guys. It's a big weakness of mine. I love it just as much as romantic love, but… it's weird. A lot of fandoms I've been in don't have enough bro love! It's romance or nothing! And that's just sad. I'm glad I'm putting more bro love into this world._

_Thanks to **XxLadyOfSinxX, Guest **(I'm sorry Guest, but... no. :( My inspiration for that story has passed), **Froggiecool, and A.R.C. Fangirl. **All of your reviews were appreciated! ;w; _

_Next chapter? …A mystery~ :D_

_Hope to see you again! Bye! _


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